Efficacy of Colchicine in the Treatment of COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

• Published in: Journal of clinical medicine 2022-05, Vol.11 (9), p.2615
• Main Authors: Toro-Huamanchumo, Carlos J, Benites-Meza, Jerry K, Mamani-García, Carlos S, Bustamante-Paytan, Diego, Gracia-Ramos, Abraham Edgar, Diaz-Vélez, Cristian, Barboza, Joshuan J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bias; Clinical trials; Confidence intervals; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Hospitalization; Infections; Intervention; Meta-analysis; Mortality; Sensitivity analysis; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Systematic Review
• ISSN: 2077-0383; 2077-0383
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm11092615

We assessed the efficacy of colchicine in COVID-19 patients through a systematic review. Six databases were searched until March 2022 for studies assessing colchicine versus control in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The primary outcome was mortality, and secondary outcome was length of hospitalization. Inverse variance and random effect meta-analyses were performed. The strength of evidence was assessed using GRADE. Nine studies (five randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and four non-randomized studies of intervention (NRSI); = 13,478). Colchicine did not reduce mortality in comparison with the standard of care in RCTs (RR 0.99; 95%CI 0.90 to 1.10; = 0.90); however, it did reduce mortality in NRSI studies (RR 0.45; 95%CI 0.26 to 0.77; = 0.02). In the analysis of RCTs, colchicine did not reduce the length of hospitalization in comparison with the standard of care (MD: -2.25 days; 95%CI: -9.34 to 4.84; = 0.15). Most studies were scored as having a high risk of bias. Quality of evidence was very low for primary and secondary outcomes. Colchicine did not reduce the mortality and length of hospitalization in comparison with the standard of care in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The published evidence is insufficient and of very low quality to recommend treatment in patients with COVID-19.