Objective To assess the efficacy of naloxone for cardio-pulmonary-cerebral resuscitation (CPCR). Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving naloxone for CPCR were identified from MEDLINE (1966 – Jun.2006), EMbase (1974 - Jun.2006), PubMed, The Cochrane Library (Issue2,2006), CBM(1978 - Jun.2006) and CNKI (1994 - Jun.2006). The quality of the trials was assessed by two reviewers independently. RevMan 4.2.7 software provided by the Cochrane Collaboration was used for statistical analysis. Results Ten RCTs were included. The quality of included RCTs was low. All the patients were in-patients or out-patients receiving CPCR due to cardial arrest at the age of 18-75 years. Meta-analysis indicated that the resuscitation rate in naloxone group was significantly higher than the placebo group (Plt;0.00001). And the recovery of the brain function in naloxone group was better than in the placebo group(Plt;0.00001) Conclusions Naloxone is effective for CPCR and it may ameliorate its prognosis. Because of the low quality of included trials and the small sample size, more RCTs are required to assess the efficacy of naloxone for CPCR.
