Quality of the evidence
Of the six trials included, only one (Lau 2007) was assessed to be
of methodologically high quality with a low risk of bias. However,
this could be attributed to incomplete reporting ofmethodological
data in the manuscript rather than methodology or design of the
trials.The absence of statistical heterogeneity and the robustness of
the results of all the analyses (with the exception of the analysis of
the effect on stigmata of recent haemorrhage at index endoscopy)
during sensitivity analysis excluding each study would support the
quality and reliability of the evidence and conclusions reached by
this review. The quality of the evidence could have been better if
further details for outcomes such as blood transfusion requirement
and stay in hospital had been available, to allow comparison of the
pooled outcomes between the treatment groups.