OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of montelukast sodium combined with azelastine hydrochloride in the treatment of allergic rhinitis. METHODS: PubMed

CNKI

the Cochrane Library

EMBase and Wanfang database were retrieved to collect the randomized controlled trial of montelukast sodium combined with azelastine hydrochloride in the treatment of allergic rhinitis（ the study group was treated with montelukast sodium combined with azelastine hydrochloride

while the control group received azelastine hydrochloride alone

without limitation of usage and dosage）. The retrieval time was from the establishment of the database to Mar.2021. Meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5. 4 software after data extraction by two researchers

selection of literature

and evaluation of risk of bias in the included literature. RESULTS: Totally 13 randomized controlled trials were collected

including 2 659 patients（ 1 330 patients in the study group and 1 329 patients in the control group）.Meta-analysis showed that in terms of effectiveness

the total effective rate（ OR = 6. 25

95% CI = 4. 52-8. 65

P <0. 000 01）

significant effective rate（ OR = 2. 36

95% CI = 1. 85-3. 01

P < 0. 000 01） and recurrence rate（ OR =0. 30

95% CI = 0. 14-0. 65

P = 0. 002） in the study group were significantly better than those in the control group

and the differences were statistically significant. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse drug reactions between two groups（ OR = 1. 19

95% CI = 0. 52-2. 71

P = 0. 69 > 0. 05）. CONCLUSIONS: Available evidence suggests that montelukast sodium in combination with azelastine hydrochloride is safe and effective in the treatment of allergic rhinitis

with significant advantages over the use of azelastine hydrochloride alone. Due to the limited number and quality of selected literature

the above conclusions need to be verified by more high-quality randomized controlled trials in the future.