Network Meta-Analysis of Vitamin D Combination Therapies for Pediatric Rickets

A 2026 systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis by Yunfeng Cao, evaluating 10 randomized controlled trials involving 867 children. The study compares the efficacy and safety of nine oral vitamin D-based combination regimens against vitamin D3 monotherapy for treating nutritional rickets.

Use Cases

• Compare serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level improvements across nine different vitamin D combination regimens.
• Analyze changes in bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, serum calcium, and phosphate concentrations from combination therapies.
• Assess relative safety rankings and adverse event risks for different treatment regimens.
• Examine subgroup efficacy differences, such as greater benefits observed in term infants versus preterm infants.

Strengths

• Analysis based on 10 randomized controlled trials providing structured clinical evidence.
• Includes data from 867 pediatric patients across the included trials.
• Study protocol was prospectively registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251029274).

Limitations

• Limited to 867 patients, a relatively small total sample size for subgroup analyses.
• Data is contained in a single DOCX file (694.0 KB), offering no structured, machine-readable data tables.
• Findings are based on indirect comparisons; no direct head-to-head trials for all regimens.

Provenance

Source

Systematic review of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP databases.

Collection Method

Bayesian network meta-analysis of aggregated results from identified randomized controlled trials.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated in April 2026.

Geography

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