2.2. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
We selected all studies that met the following criteria for our PICOS evidence-based research question: 1) Patients: individuals with bacterial vaginosis, 2) Intervention: astodrimer gel, 3) Comparator: placebo, 4) Outcomes: efficacy endpoints during active status of bacterial vaginosis and safety endpoints, and 5) Study design: RCTs. We excluded abstracts, non-randomized trials, patients with conditions other than bacterial vaginosis, animal trials, and studies that did not report any of our outcomes.