diff --git a/R/PRISMA_flowdiagram.R b/R/PRISMA_flowdiagram.R
index a4f891d..6019602 100755
--- a/R/PRISMA_flowdiagram.R
+++ b/R/PRISMA_flowdiagram.R
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ PRISMA_flowdiagram <- function( #nolint
         paste(
           paste(
             "\n",
-            other_excluded[, 1],
+            PRISMA_escape_text_(other_excluded[, 1]),
             " (n = ", other_excluded[, 2], ")",
             sep = ""
           ),
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ PRISMA_flowdiagram <- function( #nolint
       paste(
         paste(
           "\n",
-          dbr_excluded[, 1],
+          PRISMA_escape_text_(dbr_excluded[, 1]),
           " (n = ", dbr_excluded[, 2], ")",
         sep = ""
         ),
@@ -1447,7 +1447,7 @@ PRISMA_data <- function(data) { #nolint
   )
   dbr_excluded <- data.frame(
     reason = gsub(
-      ",.*$",
+      ",\\s*\\d+\\s*$",
       "",
       unlist(
         strsplit(
@@ -1464,8 +1464,8 @@ PRISMA_data <- function(data) { #nolint
       )
     ),
     n = gsub(
-      ".*,",
-      "",
+      "^.*,\\s*(\\d+)\\s*$",
+      "\\1",
       unlist(
         strsplit(
           as.character(
@@ -1493,7 +1493,7 @@ PRISMA_data <- function(data) { #nolint
   )
   other_excluded <- data.frame(
     reason = gsub(
-      ",.*$",
+      ",\\s*\\d+\\s*$",
       "",
       unlist(
         strsplit(
@@ -1510,8 +1510,8 @@ PRISMA_data <- function(data) { #nolint
       )
     ),
     n = gsub(
-      ".*,",
-      "",
+      "^.*,\\s*(\\d+)\\s*$",
+      "\\1",
       unlist(
         strsplit(
           as.character(
diff --git a/R/utils.R b/R/utils.R
index b7fa688..2a0ff59 100644
--- a/R/utils.R
+++ b/R/utils.R
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 # Utility functions for PRISMA_flowdiagram
 
+#' Escape special characters for DOT syntax
+#' @keywords internal
+PRISMA_escape_text_ <- function(text) { #nolint
+  if (is.null(text)) return(text)
+  text <- as.character(text)
+  # Escape backslashes first, then quotes and apostrophes
+  text <- gsub("\\", "\\\\", text, fixed = TRUE)
+  text <- gsub('"', '\\"', text, fixed = TRUE)
+  text <- gsub("'", "\\'", text, fixed = TRUE)
+  return(text)
+}
+
 #' Calculate the correct height of a box from a list (e.g. of exclusion reasons)
 #' @description Get the correct height for a box
 #' @param n the number of rows of text in the label