SynthesisThe Cochrane database of systematic reviews2009
Ginkgo biloba for intermittent claudication.
Synthesis in The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ginkgo biloba for intermittent claudication.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Impact of single centre status on estimates of intervention effects in trials with continuous outcomes: meta-epidemiological study.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2012Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Current Perspectives on the Beneficial Role of Ginkgo biloba in Neurological and Cerebrovascular Disorders.Integrative medicine insights · 2015Review
- Energy beverages: content and safety.Mayo Clinic proceedings · 2010Review
- Assessment of health claims, content, and safety of herbal supplements containing Ginkgo biloba.Food & nutrition research · 2010Article
- Ginkgo Biloba Extract in Ophthalmic and Systemic Disease, With a Focus on Normal-Tension Glaucoma.Asia-Pacific journal of ophthalmology (Philadelphia, Pa.)Review
Corrections and comments
- Updated by
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPeople with intermittent claudication suffer from pain in the muscles of the leg occurring during exercise which is relieved by a short period of rest. Symptomatic relief can be achieved by (supervised) exercise therapy and pharmacological treatments. Ginkgo biloba is a vasoactive agent and is used to treat intermittent claudication.
objectivesTo assess the effect of Ginkgo biloba on walking distance in people with intermittent claudication. SEARCH STRATEGY: The Cochrane Peripheral Vascular Diseases (PVD) Group searched their Trials Register (last searched 3 February 2009) and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The Cochrane Library (last searched 2009, Issue 1). We searched MEDLINE/PUBMED (January 1966 to May 2008) and EMBASE (January 1985 to May 2008) and contacted manufacturers. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials of Ginkgo biloba extract, irrespective of dosage, versus placebo in people with intermittent claudication. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors independently assessed trials for selection, assessed study quality and extracted data. We extracted number of patients, mean walking distances or times and standard deviations. To standardise walking distance or time, caloric expenditures were used to express the difference between the different treadmill protocols, which were calculated from the speed and incline of the treadmill. MAIN
resultsFourteen trials with a total of 739 participants were included. Eleven trials involving 477 participants compared Ginkgo biloba with placebo and assessed the absolute claudication distance. Following treatment with Ginkgo biloba at the end of the study the absolute claudication distance increased with an overall effect size of 3.57 kilocalories (confidence interval -0.10 to 7.23, P = 0.06), compared with placebo. This translates to an increase of just 64.5 (confidence interval -1.8 to 130.7) metres on a flat treadmill with an average speed of 3.2 km/h. Publication bias leading to missing data or "negative" trials is likely to have inflated the effect size. AUTHORS'
conclusionsOverall, there is no evidence that Ginkgo biloba has a clinically significant benefit for patients with peripheral arterial disease.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.