Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2017
Review Meta AnalysisTherapeutic effect of beta-blocker in patients with traumatic brain injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
β-Blocker exposure has been shown to reduce mortality in traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, the efficacy of β-blockers remains inconclusive. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted in this paper to evaluate the safety and efficacy of β-blocker therapy on patients with TBI. ⋯ The meta-analysis demonstrates that β-blockers are effective in lowering mortality in patients with TBI. However, β-blocker therapy has markedly increased the infection rate and requires a longer period of ventilator support, intensive care management as well as length of stay.
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2017
Review Meta AnalysisRespiratory support techniques to avoid desaturation in critically ill patients requiring endotracheal intubation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
To evaluate which respiratory support method for critically ill patients undergoing endotracheal intubation (ETI) is associated with less desaturation. ⋯ ApOx was significantly associated with higher minimum SpO2 registered during the intubation procedure. Further studies are needed to increase the number of included patients and demonstrate the benefit of ApOx and of other respiratory support methods (e.g. NIV, HFNC).
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Journal of critical care · Oct 2017
ReviewInterventions affecting mortality in critically ill and perioperative patients: A systematic review of contemporary trials.
Confounders in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting significant effects on mortality in critically ill patients using non-surgical techniques have not been systematically explored. We aimed to identify factors unrelated to the reported intervention that might have affected the findings and robustness of such trials. ⋯ These observations imply that major systematic biases exist and affect trial findings irrespective of the intervention being studied.