Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2014
Review Meta AnalysisAnticoagulation for the initial treatment of venous thromboembolism in patients with cancer.
Compared with patients without cancer, patients with cancer who receive anticoagulant treatment for venous thromboembolism (VTE) are more likely to develop recurrent VTE. ⋯ LMWH is possibly superior to UFH in the initial treatment of VTE in patients with cancer. Additional trials focusing on patient-important outcomes will further inform the questions addressed in this review.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2014
Review Meta AnalysisShengmai (a traditional Chinese herbal medicine) for heart failure.
Heart failure is a major public health problem worldwide. Shengmai, a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, has long been used as a complementary treatment for heart failure in China. This is an update of a Cochrane Review published in 2012. ⋯ Shengmai may exert a positive effect on heart failure, especially for improving NYHA functional classification when Shengmai plus usual treatment is used. The review results should be interpreted with caution due to the high risk of bias of the included studies (particularly regarding allocation concealment and blinding), the small sample size of these studies, and the significant heterogeneity in outcomes such as ejection function, cardiac output and stroke volume. There was no evidence available concerning the effect of Shengmai on mortality, and more high quality studies with long-term follow-up are warranted.
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Below knee amputation (BKA) may be necessary in patients with advanced critical limb ischaemia or diabetic foot sepsis in whom no other treatment option is available. There is no consensus as to which surgical technique achieves the maximum rehabilitation potential. This is the third update of the review first published in 2004. ⋯ There is no evidence to show a benefit of one type of incision over another. However, in the presence of wet gangrene a two-stage procedure leads to better primary stump healing compared to a one-stage procedure. The choice of amputation technique can, therefore, be a matter of surgeon preference taking into account factors such as previous experience of a particular technique, the extent of non-viable tissue, and the location of pre-existing surgical scars.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2014
Review Meta Analysis Comparative StudyNasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) versus nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) for preterm neonates after extubation.
Previous randomised trials and meta-analyses have shown nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) to be a useful method of respiratory support after extubation. However, infants managed in this way sometimes 'fail' and require endotracheal reintubation with its attendant risks and expense. Nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) is a method of augmenting NCPAP by delivering ventilator breaths via nasal prongs. Older children and adults with chronic respiratory failure benefit from NIPPV and the technique has been applied to neonates. However, serious side effects including gastric perforation have been reported with older techniques to provide NIPPV. ⋯ the impact of synchronisation of NIPPV on the technique's safety and efficacy should be established in large trials. The efficacy of bilevel devices should be compared with NIPPV provided by a ventilator in trials. The best combination of settings for NIPPV needs to be established in future trials.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2014
Review Meta AnalysisInterferons-beta versus glatiramer acetate for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
Interferons (IFNs)-beta and glatiramer acetate (GA) were the first two disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) approved 15 years ago for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). DMTs prescription rates as first or switching therapies and their costs have increased substantially over the past decade. As more DMTs become available, the choice of a specific DMT should reflect the risk/benefit profile, as well as the impact on quality profile. As MS cohorts enrolled in different studies can vary significantly, head-to-head trials are considered the best approach for gaining objective reliable data when two different drugs are compared. The purpose of this study is to summarise available evidence on the comparative effectiveness of IFNs-beta and GA on disease course through a systematic review of head-to-head trials. ⋯ The effects of IFNs-beta and GA in the treatment of patients with RRMS, including clinical (e.g. patients with relapse, risk to progression) and MRI (Gd-enhancing lesions) activity measures, seem to be similar or to show only small differences. When MRI lesion load accrual is considered, the effect of the two treatments differs, in that IFNs-beta were found to limit the increase in lesion burden as compared with GA. Evidence was insufficient for a comparison of the effects of the two treatments on patient-reported outcomes, such as quality of life measures.