Objective      To assess the effectiveness and safety of continuous antibiotic prophylaxis (CAP) in the prevention of urinary tract infection (UTI) for the children with vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) by meta analysis.       Methods      Computer retrieval was carried out in Cochrane library

PubMed

EMBASE

Ovid

Springer

China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)

VIP database

WanFang Data

and China Biology Medicine disc (CBM) from establishment until May 2015 for randomized controlled trials (RCT) about UTI prevention by comparing CAP and no agent/placebo. The quality of the literature was assessed with Jadad scale according to Cochrane Handbook for systematic reviews of interventions. Meta-analysis was performed to the extracted data by statistical software Rev Man 5.1. The main indicator of observation was the incidence of recurrent urinary tract infections

and the secondary indicator was the new incidence of renal scars.       Results      There were 8 RCTs incorporated in this study

including 828 cases of antibiotic treatment group and 811 cases of control group. The meta-analyses showed ① The risk of febrile UTI was reduced in the CAP group of (RR=0.69

95%CI: 0.56～0.86

P0.05); ② CAP reduced the occurrence of febrile UTI in the children with VUR of gradeⅠ～Ⅱ (RR=0.57

95%CI: 0.37～0.87

P0.05) and those of grade Ⅲ～Ⅳ (RR=0.76

95%CI: 0.59～0.96

P0.05); ③ Based on the 5 RCTs studying the occurrence of new renal scars in children with VUR

antibiotic treatment had no effect of the risk of new renal scars when compared with those receiving no agent/placebo (RR=1

95%CI: 0.61～1.64

P0.05).       Conclusion      Regardless of the grade of VUR

CAP exerts significant effect on the prevention of UTI

but has no effect on the occurrence of new renal scars in the children.