Study characteristics
| Author, year, country | Study design | Study location | Intervention | Comparator | Intervention group | Comparator group | Risk of bias | ||||
| Sample size | Mean age (years) | NYHA class | Sample size | Mean age (years) | NYHA class | ||||||
| Frea 2020, Germany27 | RCT | Cardiac care unit | IV furosemide continuous infusion, 120 mg/day or 240 mg/day | IV furosemide bolus every 12 hours, 120 mg/day or 240 mg/day | n=40 | 63.0±13 | IV: 40 (100%) | n=40 | 58.7±10 | IV 40 (100%) | Low |
| Jaya Shree, 2021, India28 | RCT | Intensive care unit | Continuous IV furosemide infusion, initial rate 2–3 mg/hour | IV furosemide bolus, initial dose 40 mg every 8 hours | n=28 | 69±9 | III: 11 (39.2%) IV: 17 (60.7%) | n=28 | 63±13 | III: 16 (57.1%) IV: 12 (42.8%) | High |
| Palazzuoli, 2015, Italy24 | RCT | Cardiac care unit | Continuous IV furosemide infusion for 72–120 hour. Mean dose 188±70 mg/day. | IV furosemide bolus twice-daily for 3–5 days. Mean dose 170±80 mg/day. | n=30 | 71±7 | III: 4 (13%) IV: 27 (90%) | n=28 | 73±8 | III: 5 (18%) IV: 22 (79%) | Low |
| Ragab, 2018, Egypt25 | RCT | Critical care unit | Continuous IV furosemide infusion, initial rate 5 mg/hour. | IV furosemide bolus, initial dose 40 mg every 8 hour. | n=20 | 53.5 | III: 5 (25%) IV: 15 (75%) | n=20 | 57 | III: 8 (40%) IV: 12 (60%) | High |
| Thomson et al, 2010, USA26 | RCT | Tertiary care medical centre | Continuous IV furosemide infusion, mean 197±48 mg/day. Mean duration of administration was 86.4±50.5 hour | Intermittent infusion of furosemide. The mean daily dose of furosemide was 172±97 mg. The mean duration of administration was 12.5±73 hour | n=26 | 56.4 | III: 10 (38%) IV: 9 (35%) Not reported: 7 (27%) | n=30 | 54.6 | III: 11 (37%) IV: 11 (37%) Not reported: 7 (23) | Some Concerns |
| Zheng, 2021, China29 | RCT | Tertiary care medical centre | IV continuous furosemide infusion over 6 hours, 160 mg/day or 200 mg/day depending on eGFR. | IV furosemide bolus once daily, 160 mg/day or 200 mg/ day depending on eGFR. | n=47 | 65.53±7.84 | III: 32 (76.19%) IV: 10 (23.81%) | n=47 | 67.38±8.57 | III: 33 (84.62%) IV: 6 (15.38%) | Some Concerns |
eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; IV, intravenous; NYHA, New York Heart Association; RCT, randomised controlled trial.