Simple tool implementing Bucher’s method for indirect treatment comparisons in meta-analyses

Healthcare practitioners and patients are often required to make choices between two treatment options which may have never been compared directly.When performing standard 'pairwise' meta-analysis, it is common to find trials comparing one of two experimental treatments against a common control (standard of care or placebo) but no head-to-head trials.Statistical methods are available to perform indirect comparisons between two treatments when direct evidence is lacking.Here, we provide a simple, easy-to-use, Excel spreadsheet capable of performing these calculations.