Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of treatment with oral BCAA were included. The control treatments included carbohydrates, casein, proteins and carbohydrates plus lipids.
Specific interventions included in the review
Oral BCAA supplements (no details given).
Participants included in the review
Patients with either chronic recurrent or chronic permanent HE. The average age of patients in the included studies varied from 49 to 65 years, and the proportion of alcoholics varied from 29 to 90% between studies (two studies did not give this information). The proportion of patients with a portocaval shunt varied from 0 to 100% and the proportion with latent HE varied from 0 to 79%.
Outcomes assessed in the review
The portal-systemic encephalopathy index (PSE index), a measure of the severity of HE, was used as an outcome measure.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors do not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many of the authors performed the selection.