Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Mar 2015
Review Meta AnalysisAdrenaline with lidocaine for digital nerve blocks.
Surgery on fingers is a common procedure in emergency and day care surgery. Adrenaline combined with lidocaine can prolong digital nerve block and provide a bloodless operating field. Extended postoperative pain relief can reduce the need for analgesics and can facilitate hand rehabilitation. Conventionally, adrenaline is avoided at anatomical sites with end arteries such as digits, penis and pinna because of concerns about arterial spasm, ischaemia and gangrene distal to the site of drug infiltration. ⋯ From the limited data available, evidence is insufficient to recommend use or avoidance of adrenaline in digital nerve blocks. The evidence provided in this review indicates that addition of adrenaline to lidocaine may prolong the duration of anaesthesia and reduce the risk of bleeding during surgery, although the quality of the evidence is low. We have identified the need for researchers to conduct large trials that focus on other important outcomes such as adverse events, cost analysis and duration of postoperative pain relief.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Mar 2015
Review Meta Analysis Comparative StudyElective high frequency oscillatory ventilation versus conventional ventilation for acute pulmonary dysfunction in preterm infants.
Respiratory failure due to lung immaturity is a major cause of mortality in preterm infants. Although the use of intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV) in neonates with respiratory failure saves lives, its use is associated with lung injury and chronic lung disease. A newer form of ventilation called high frequency oscillatory ventilation has been shown in experimental studies to result in less lung injury. ⋯ There is evidence that the use of elective HFOV compared with CV results in a small reduction in the risk of CLD, but the evidence is weakened by the inconsistency of this effect across trials. Probably many factors, both related to the intervention itself as well as to the individual patient, interact in complex ways. In addition, the benefit could be counteracted by an increased risk of acute air leak. Adverse effects on short-term neurological outcomes have been observed in some studies but these effects are not significant overall. Most trials reporting long-term outcome have not identified any difference.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Mar 2015
Review Meta AnalysisTramadol for postoperative pain treatment in children.
According to current recommendations a multimodal approach is believed to be the gold standard for postoperative pain treatment in children. However, several surveys in the last few years demonstrated that postoperative pain in children is still a serious problem, mainly because opioids are avoided. One of the reasons for this is the fear of severe adverse events following opioid administration. Tramadol is a weak mu-opioid agonist and inhibits reuptake of noradrenaline and serotonin (5HT). Because of a relatively wide therapeutic window and a ceiling effect with a lower risk for severe adverse events (for example respiratory depression) tramadol is a widely used opioid in children. However, the exact efficacy and occurrence of adverse events following tramadol (in comparison with placebo or other opioids) for postoperative pain treatment in children and adolescents are currently not clear. ⋯ The overall evidence regarding tramadol for postoperative pain in children is currently low or very low and should be interpreted with caution due to small studies and methodological problems (different validated and non-validated pain scales with different pain triggers, missing sample size calculations and missing intention-to-treat analysis). Nevertheless, we demonstrated that tramadol administration might provide appropriate analgesia when compared to placebo; this is based on results showing reduced rescue analgesia in children treated with tramadol compared to placebo. In contrast, the evidence regarding the comparison with other opioids (for example morphine) was uncertain. Adverse events were only poorly reported, so an accurate risk-benefit analysis was not possible.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Mar 2015
Review Meta AnalysisCorticosteroid therapy for nephrotic syndrome in children.
In nephrotic syndrome protein leaks from the blood to the urine through the glomeruli resulting in hypoproteinaemia and generalised oedema. While most children with nephrotic syndrome respond to corticosteroids, 80% experience a relapsing course. Corticosteroids have reduced the mortality rate to around 3%. However corticosteroids have well recognised potentially serious adverse effects such as obesity, poor growth, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis and behavioural disturbances. This is an update of a review first published in 2000 and updated in 2003, 2005 and 2007. ⋯ In this 2015 update the addition of three well-designed studies has changed the conclusion of this review. Studies of long versus shorter duration of corticosteroids have heterogeneous treatment effects, with the older high risk of bias studies tending to over-estimate the effect of longer course therapy, compared with more recently published low risk of bias studies. Among studies at low risk of bias, there was no significant difference in the risk for FRNS between prednisone given for two or three months and longer durations or total dose of therapy indicating that there is no benefit of increasing the duration of prednisone beyond two or three months in the initial episode of SSNS.The risk of relapse in children with FRNS is reduced by the administration of daily prednisone at onset of an upper respiratory tract or viral infection. Three additional studies have increased the evidence supporting this conclusion. This management strategy may be considered for children with FRNS. A paucity of data on prednisone use in relapsing nephrotic syndrome remains. In particular there are no data from RCTs evaluating the efficacy and safety of prolonged courses of low dose alternate-day prednisone although this management strategy is recommended in current guidelines.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Mar 2015
Review Meta AnalysisTimed intercourse for couples trying to conceive.
Fertility problems are very common, as subfertility affects about 10% to 15% of couples trying to conceive. There are many factors that may impact a couple's ability to conceive and one of these may be incorrect timing of intercourse. Conception is only possible from approximately five days before up to several hours after ovulation. Therefore, to be effective, intercourse must take place during this fertile period. 'Timed intercourse' is the practice of prospectively identifying ovulation and, thus, the fertile period to increase the likelihood of conception. Whilst timed intercourse may increase conception rates and reduce unnecessary intervention and costs, there may be associated adverse aspects including time consumption and stress. Ovulation prediction methods used for timing intercourse include urinary hormone measurement (luteinizing hormone (LH), estrogen), tracking basal body temperatures, cervical mucus investigation, calendar charting and ultrasonography. This review considered the evidence from randomised controlled trials for the use of timed intercourse on positive pregnancy outcomes. ⋯ There are insufficient data available to draw conclusions on the effectiveness of timed intercourse for the outcomes of live birth, adverse events and clinical pregnancy. Timed intercourse may improve pregnancy rates (clinical or self-reported pregnancy, not yet confirmed by ultrasound) compared to intercourse without ovulation prediction. The quality of this evidence is low to very low and therefore findings should be regarded with caution. There is a high risk of publication bias, as one large study remains unpublished 8 years after recruitment finished. Further research is required, reporting clinically relevant outcomes (live birth, clinical pregnancy rates and adverse effects), to determine if timed intercourse is safe and effective in couples trying to conceive.