Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2001
ReviewTranscutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for chronic pain.
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is used in a variety of different clinical settings to treat a range of different acute and chronic pain conditions and has become popular with both patients and health professionals. ⋯ The results of this review are inconclusive; the published trials do not provide information on the stimulation parameters which are most likely to provide optimum pain relief, nor do they answer questions about long-term effectiveness. Large multi-centre randomised controlled trials of TENS in chronic pain are urgently needed.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2001
ReviewEversion versus conventional carotid endarterectomy for preventing stroke.
Carotid endarterectomy is conventionally undertaken by a longitudinal arteriotomy. Eversion carotid endarterectomy (CEA), which employs a transverse arteriotomy and reimplantation of the carotid artery, is reported to be associated with low perioperative stroke and restenosis rates but an increased risk of complications associated with a distal intimal flap. ⋯ Eversion CEA may be associated with low risk of arterial occlusion and restenosis. However, numbers are too small to definitively assess benefits or harms. Reduced restenosis rates did not appear to be associated with clinical benefit in terms of reduced stroke risk, either perioperatively or later. Until further evidence is available, the choice of the CEA technique should depend on the experience and familiarity of the individual surgeon.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2001
ReviewNatural surfactant extract versus synthetic surfactant for neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.
Surfactant preparations are now widely used and have been credited with recent improvements in overall infant mortality (Horbar 1993b, Schwartz 1994). A wide variety of surfactant preparations have been developed and tested. These include synthetic surfactants and surfactants derived from animal sources. Although clinical trials have demonstrated that both synthetic surfactants and natural surfactant preparations are effective, comparison in animal models has suggested that there may be greater efficacy of natural surfactant products, perhaps due to the protein content of natural surfactant (Tooley 1987). ⋯ Both natural surfactant extracts and synthetic surfactant extracts are effective in the treatment and prevention of respiratory distress syndrome. Comparative trials demonstrate greater early improvement in the requirement for ventilator support, fewer pneumothoraces, and fewer deaths associated with natural surfactant extract treatment. Natural surfactant may be associated with an increase in intraventricular hemorrhage, though the more serious hemorrhages (Grade 3 and 4) are not increased. Despite these concerns, natural surfactant extracts would seem to be the more desirable choice when compared to currently available synthetic surfactants.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2001
ReviewManagement of faecal incontinence and constipation in adults with central neurological diseases.
People with neurological disease have a much higher risk of both faecal incontinence and constipation than the general population. There is often a fine dividing line between the two conditions, with any management intended to ameliorate, one risking precipitating the other. Bowel problems are observed to be the cause of much anxiety and may reduce quality of life in these people. Current bowel management is largely empirical with a limited research base. ⋯ It is not possible to draw any recommendation for bowel care in people with neurological diseases from the trials included in this review. Bowel management for these people must remain empirical until well-designed controlled trials with adequate numbers and clinically relevant outcome measures become available.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2001
ReviewGold as an oral corticosteroid sparing agent in stable asthma.
Patients with chronic severe asthma are often dependent on the long term prescription of oral corticosteroids. The use of steroids is associated with serious side effects. Physicians treating such patients continue to search for alternative therapies that reduce the need for chronic dosing with oral steroids. Gold compounds are immunosuppressive agents and have benefits in the treatment of a number of inflammatory disorders. They have therefore been identified as an potentially useful agents in the treatment of chronic severe asthma both in terms of possible efficacy and as steroid sparing agents. ⋯ The changes seen in these trials are small and probably of limited clinical significance. Given the side effects of gold and necessity for monitoring the use of gold as a steroid sparing agent in asthma cannot be recommended.