JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Ultrasound-guided extracorporeal shock wave therapy for plantar fasciitis: a randomized controlled trial.
Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is increasingly used for plantar fasciitis, but limited evidence supports its use. ⋯ We found no evidence to support a beneficial effect on pain, function, and quality of life of ultrasound-guided ESWT over placebo in patients with ultrasound-proven plantar fasciitis 6 and 12 weeks following treatment.
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Although current depression treatment guidelines recommend continuing antidepressant therapy for at least 4 to 9 months, many patients discontinue treatment prematurely, within 3 months. ⋯ Discrepancies exist between instructions that physicians report they communicate to patients and what patients remember being told. Explicit instructions about expected duration of therapy and discussions about medication adverse effects throughout treatment may reduce discontinuation of SSRI use. Our finding that patients with 3 or more follow-up visits were more likely to continue using the initially prescribed antidepressant medication suggests that frequent patient-physician contact may increase the probability that patients will continue therapy.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Splinting vs surgery in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome: a randomized controlled trial.
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) can be treated with nonsurgical or surgical options. However, there is no consensus on the most effective method of treatment. ⋯ Treatment with open carpal tunnel release surgery resulted in better outcomes than treatment with wrist splinting for patients with CTS.