To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Xuebijing injection for treating sepsis by systematic review.

Randomized controlled trials (RCT) of relevant Xuebijing injection for sepsis were searched in PubMed, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang database, VIP database from January 2000 to July 2019. Patients in control group were given conventional treatment, while patients in experimental group were treated with Xuebijing injection combined with conventional treatment. The qualities of the included trials were evaluated according to the Cochrane bias risk assessment tool. Meta-analysis of 28-day mortality, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHEⅡ), white blood cell count (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP) and safety for sepsis patients with Xuebijing injection were conducted by RevMan 5.3 software. And the funnel chart was used to evaluate the publication bias of 28-day mortality.

Fourteen clinical studies involving 938 patients in total were enrolled, among whom 475 cases in experimental group and 463 cases in control group. Meta-analysis showed that compared with the control group, the 28-day mortality, APACHEⅡ score, WBC and CRP of the experimental group were significantly decreased [28-day mortality: relative risk (RR) = 0.52, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 0.40 to 0.67, P < 0.000 01, I² = 0%; APACHEⅡ score: mean difference (MD) = -5.48, 95%CI was -7.52 to -3.43, P < 0.000 01, I² = 86%; WBC: MD = -2.26, 95%CI was -3.35 to -1.17, P < 0.000 1, I² = 87%; CRP: MD = -37.43, 95%CI was -56.70 to -18.16, P = 0.000 1, I² = 99%]. None of the 14 literatures reported the safety of Xuebijing injection, and there were no reports of participants' withdrawnness in halfway. Funnel chart analysis showed that there was a publication bias among studies with 28-day mortality.

Xuebijing injection can improve the clinical symptoms, significantly reduce the mortality, and has high clinical application value.

Xuebijing injection; Sepsis; Efficacy; Meta-analysis