Objective:

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To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of oral Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) on post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients with depressive disorder in coronary heart disease (CHD).

Methods:

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A literature search was conducted through databases including PubMed

Cochrane Library

Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Databases (CNKI)

Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (SinoMed)

Chongqing VIP Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database (VIP) and Wanfang Database up to August 2018. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing CHMs with placebo or no additional treatments on the basis of standard conventional pharmacological therapies were included. Data extraction

analyses and quality assessment were performed according to the Cochrane standards. RevMan 5.3 software was used to synthesize the results.

Results:

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A total of 16 RCTs enrolling 1

443 participants were included in this systematic review. When compared with antidepressants alone

CHMs showed similar benefits with less side effects [risk ratio=0.54

95% confidence interval (CI) 0.43 to 0.69

582 patients]; meanwhile

the combination therapy may have more advantages than antidepressants alone [mean difference (MD)=–1.03

95%CI –1.81 to –0.25

267 patients). When identified with placebo

CHMs seem to have more advantages in relieving depressive symptoms (MD=–19.00

95%CI –20.02 to –17.98

189 patients). However

when compared with basic treatment of post-PCI

CHMs showed different results in two trials. In terms of post-PCI related clinical symptoms

CHMs seem to have more advantages in relieving chest pain and other general clinical symptoms. However

the heterogeneity in this review was generally high

it may be caused by different interventions used in each trial and the low quality of the trials.

Conclusions:

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In total

CHMs showed potentially beneficial effects on depressive symptoms and post-PCI related clinical symptoms. However

because of small sample size and potential bias of most trials

this result should be interpreted with caution. More rigorous trials with larger sample size and higher quality are warranted to give high quality of evidence to support the use of CHMs for CHD complicated with depression.