*3.1. Search Results*

A PRISMA flowchart of the process of study selection is shown in Figure S1. Initially, a total of 1237 records were retrieved. After screening the titles, abstracts, and full texts, 14 original articles involving 15 RCTs were eligible for a quantitative meta-analysis. These comprised seven phase III trials [19,35–39], seven phase II trials [40–46], and one phase I trial [47].
