Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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The treatment of early gastric cancer (EGC) using endoscopy, namely endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), has been adopted for about 20 years, but the effectiveness and safety of the modality are still controversial. Furthermore, the risk of bias of trials of this technique has not been assessed systematically. ⋯ There is a lack of randomised controlled trials in which endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) is compared with gastrectomy for early gastric cancer. There is, therefore, a need for well-designed randomised controlled trials to determine the effects of EMR compared to gastrectomy.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2009
Review Meta AnalysisAntibiotic prophylaxis to reduce respiratory tract infections and mortality in adults receiving intensive care.
Pneumonia is an important cause of mortality in intensive care units (ICUs). The incidence of pneumonia in ICU patients ranges between 7% and 40%, and the crude mortality from ventilator-associated pneumonia may exceed 50%. Although not all deaths in patients with this form of pneumonia are directly attributable to pneumonia, it has been shown to contribute to mortality in ICUs independently of other factors that are also strongly associated with such deaths. ⋯ A combination of topical and systemic prophylactic antibiotics reduces RTIs and overall mortality in adult patients receiving intensive care. Treatment based on the use of topical prophylaxis alone reduces respiratory infections but not mortality. The risk of resistance occurring as a negative consequence of antibiotic use was appropriately explored only in one trial which did not show any such effect.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2009
Review Meta AnalysisSingle dose oral rofecoxib for acute postoperative pain in adults.
Editor's note: The anti-inflammatory drug rofecoxib (Vioxx) was withdrawn from the market at the end of September 2004 after it was shown that long-term use (greater than 18 months) could increase the risk of heart attack and stroke in a study of secondary prevention of adenoma recurrence. Further information is available at www.vioxx.com.Rofecoxib is a selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor previously licensed for treating acute and chronic pain; it was associated with fewer gastrointestinal adverse events than conventional NSAIDs. An earlier Cochrane review (Barden 2005) showed that rofecoxib is at least as effective as conventional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for postoperative pain. ⋯ Rofecoxib 50 mg (two to four times the standard daily dose for chronic pain) is an effective single dose oral analgesic for acute postoperative pain in adults, with a relatively long duration of action.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2009
Review Meta AnalysisAddition of inhaled long-acting beta2-agonists to inhaled steroids as first line therapy for persistent asthma in steroid-naive adults and children.
Consensus statements recommend the addition of long-acting inhaled ss2-agonists (LABA) only in asthmatic patients who are inadequately controlled on inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). It is not uncommon for some patients to be commenced on ICS and LABA together as initial therapy. ⋯ In steroid-naive patients with mild to moderate airway obstruction, the combination of ICS and LABA does not significantly reduce the risk of patients with exacerbations requiring rescue oral corticosteroids over that achieved with a similar dose of ICS alone. However, it significantly improves lung function, reduces symptoms and marginally decreases rescue ss2-agonist use. Initiation of a higher dose of ICS is more effective at reducing the risk of exacerbations requiring rescue systemic corticosteroids, and of withdrawals, than combination therapy. Although children appeared to respond similarly to adults, no firm conclusions can be drawn regarding combination therapy in steroid-naive children, given the small number of children contributing data.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2009
Review Meta AnalysisPsychosocial interventions for the prevention of disability following traumatic physical injury.
Traumatic physical injury can result in many disabling sequelae including physical and mental health problems and impaired social functioning. ⋯ This review provides no convincing evidence of the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for the prevention of disability following traumatic physical injury. Taken together, our findings cannot be considered as supporting the provision of psychosocial interventions to prevent aspects of disability arising from physical injury. However, these conclusions are based on a small number of disparate trials with small to moderate sample sizes and are therefore necessarily cautious. More research, using larger sample sizes, and similar interventions and patient populations to enable pooling of results, is needed before these findings can be confirmed.