The name of the article I chose was Probiotics for vulvovaginal candidiasis in non‐pregnant women by Huan Yu Xie and was published to the Cochrane database of systematic reviews in November of 2017. This is a systematic review that included 10 trials, and included data from 1656 women, with a sample size ranging from 68 to 436 participants. The included trials recruited participants aged between 16 and 50 years. All the selected trials recruited participants without RVVC, diabetes mellitus, immunosuppressive disorders, taking immunosuppressant medication or evidence of co‐infection with other vulvovaginal infections. All trials used probiotics as adjuvant therapy to antifungal drugs. Five trials used probiotics of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Five trials reported short‐term clinical cure rate and only one trial reported long‐term clinical cure rate. Seven trials reported short‐term mycological cure rate, and three trials reported short‐term mycological cure rate. Three trials reported the first relapse after treatment. Two trials reported the rate of serious adverse events. Seven trials reported the rate of non‐serious adverse events.
The article concluded that probiotics as adjuvants therapy was associated with a significantly improved on short‐term clinical cure rate when compared to conventional antifungal drugs alone. This systematic review included trials at high risk of bias and consequently with very low to low confidence on the estimate of effect. This review was unable to report on the results of meta‐analysis of long‐term clinical cure rate (at one month and three months after treatment) and long‐term mycological cure rate (three months after treatment), as only one of the included studies offered the relevant data. In conclusion probiotics cannot completely supplement antifungals in the setting of vaginal candidiasis. Instead, probiotics should be offered however it should be explained to the patient that this may or may not help with their symptoms while also explaining the pros and cons of probiotics.
