Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Mar 2013
Review Meta AnalysisContinuous versus intermittent infusions of antibiotics for the treatment of severe acute infections.
Intravenous broad-spectrum antibiotics are indicated for the treatment of severe infections. However, the emergence of infections caused by multi-drug resistant organisms in conjunction with a lack of novel antibiotics has prompted the investigation of alternative dosing strategies to improve clinical efficacy and tolerability. To optimise pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic antibiotic parameters, continuous antibiotic infusions have been compared to traditional intermittent antibiotic infusions. ⋯ There were no differences in mortality, infection recurrence, clinical cure, superinfection post-therapy, and safety outcomes when comparing continuous infusions of intravenous antibiotics to traditional intermittent infusions of antibiotics. However, the wide confidence intervals suggest that beneficial or harmful effects cannot be ruled out for all outcomes. Therefore, the current evidence is insufficient to recommend the widespread adoption of continuous infusion antibiotics in the place of intermittent infusions of antibiotics. Further large prospective randomised trials, with consistent and complete reporting of clinical outcome measures, conducted with concurrent pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies in special populations are required to determine whether adoption of continuous antibiotic infusions is warranted in specific circumstances.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Mar 2013
ReviewHormonal versus non-hormonal contraceptives in women with diabetes mellitus type 1 and 2.
Adequate contraceptive advice is important in both women with diabetes mellitus type 1 and type 2 to reduce the risk of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality in unplanned pregnancies. A wide variety of contraceptives are available for these women. However, hormonal contraceptives might influence carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and increase micro- and macrovascular complications, so caution in selecting a contraceptive method is required. ⋯ The four included randomised controlled trials in this systematic review provided insufficient evidence to assess whether progestogen-only and combined contraceptives differ from non-hormonal contraceptives in diabetes control, lipid metabolism and complications. Three of the four studies were of limited methodological quality, sponsored by pharmaceutical companies and described surrogate outcomes. Ideally, an adequately reported, high-quality randomised controlled trial analysing both intermediate outcomes (that is glucose and lipid metabolism) and true clinical endpoints (micro- and macrovascular disease) in users of combined, progestogen-only and non-hormonal contraceptives should be conducted. However, due to the low incidence of micro- and macrovascular disease and accordingly the large sample size and long follow-up period needed to observe differences in risk, a randomised controlled trial might not be the ideal design.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Mar 2013
Review Meta AnalysisFolic acid supplementation during pregnancy for maternal health and pregnancy outcomes.
During pregnancy, fetal growth causes an increase in the total number of rapidly dividing cells, which leads to increased requirements for folate. Inadequate folate intake leads to a decrease in serum folate concentration, resulting in a decrease in erythrocyte folate concentration, a rise in homocysteine concentration, and megaloblastic changes in the bone marrow and other tissues with rapidly dividing cells ⋯ We found no conclusive evidence of benefit of folic acid supplementation during pregnancy on pregnancy outcomes.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Mar 2013
ReviewMethods for administering subcutaneous heparin during pregnancy.
Pregnant women with a history of venous thromboembolism (VTE), antithrombin deficiency, or other risk factors for VTE, need heparin (unfractionated heparin (UFH) or low-molecular weight heparin (LMWH)) prophylaxis, mainly through administering subcutaneously. Several methods of administering heparin (UFH or LMWH) subcutaneously have been introduced to prevent adverse pregnant outcomes. The effectiveness and safety of different methods administering subcutaneous heparin (UFH or LMWH) during pregnancy have not been systematically evaluated. ⋯ There is no evidence from randomised controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of different methods of administering subcutaneous heparin (UFH or LMWH) to pregnant women.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Mar 2013
Review Meta AnalysisMaternal position during caesarean section for preventing maternal and neonatal complications.
During caesarean section mothers can be in different positions. Theatre tables could be tilted laterally, upwards, downwards or flexed and wedges or cushions could be used. There is no consensus on the best positioning at present. ⋯ There is limited evidence to support or clearly disprove the value of the use of tilting or flexing the table, the use of wedges and cushions or the use of mechanical displacers. A left lateral tilt may be better than a right lateral tilt and manual displacers may be better than a left lateral tilt but larger studies with more robust data are needed to confirm these findings.