Is fluid restriction needed in heart failure?

Fluid restriction is usually recommended in chronic heart failure. However, the evidence base to support this is not that clear. Searching in Epistemonikos database, which is maintained by screening multiple databases, we identified five systematic reviews evaluating 11 studies addressing the question of this article, including seven randomized trials. We extracted data, combined the evidence using meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings table following the GRADE approach. We concluded fluid restriction probably decreases hospital readmission in chronic heart failure and might decrease mortality, but the certainty of the evidence for the latter is low.