Pharmacological prevention of bone loss and fractures following solid organ transplantations: Protocol for a systematic review and network meta-analysis

TL;DR

This study aims to find the best drugs for preventing bone loss and fractures in patients who have received solid organ transplants.

Contribution

This will be the most comprehensive analysis of anti-osteoporotic interventions for solid organ transplant recipients.

Findings

The study will rank interventions based on their effectiveness in increasing bone mineral density.

It will assess the risk reduction of fractures in transplant recipients using network meta-analysis.

Findings will guide clinical recommendations for managing bone loss post-transplant.

Abstract

Solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients can experience bone loss caused by underlying conditions and the use of immunosuppressants. As a result, SOT recipients are at risk for decreased bone mineral density (BMD) and increased fracture incidences. We propose a network meta-analysis (NMA) that incorporates all available randomized control trial (RCT) data to provide the most comprehensive ranking of anti-osteoporotic interventions according to their ability to decrease fracture incidences and increase BMD in SOT recipients.

We will search MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, CINAHL, CENTRAL and CNKI for relevant RCTs that enrolled adult SOT recipients, assessed anti-osteoporotic therapies, and reported relevant outcomes. Title and full-text screening as well as data extraction will be performed in-duplicate. We will report changes in BMD as weighted or standardized mean differences, and fracture incidences as risk ratios. SUCRA scores will be used to provide rankings of interventions, and quality of evidence will be examined using RoB2 and CINeMA.

To our knowledge, this systematic review and NMA will be the most comprehensive quantitative analysis regarding the management of bone loss and fractures in SOT recipients. Our analysis should be able to provide physicians and patients with an up-to-date recommendation for pharmacotherapies in reducing incidences of bone loss and fractures associated with SOT. The findings of the NMA will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal.