Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Dec 2019
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for chronic neck pain.
Chronic neck pain is a highly prevalent condition, affecting 10% to 24% of the general population. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is the noninvasive, transcutaneous use of electrical stimulation to produce analgesia. It is a simple, low-cost and safe intervention used in clinical practice as an adjunct treatment for painful musculoskeletal conditions that have a considerable impact on daily activities, such as chronic neck pain. This review is a split from a Cochrane Review on electrotherapy for neck pain, published in 2013, and focuses specifically on TENS for chronic neck pain. ⋯ This review found very low-certainty evidence of a difference between TENS compared to sham TENS on reducing neck pain; therefore, we are unsure about the effect estimate. At present, there is insufficient evidence regarding the use of TENS in patients with chronic neck pain. Additional well-designed, -conducted and -reported RCTs are needed to reach robust conclusions.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Dec 2019
Meta AnalysisShortened treatment regimens versus the standard regimen for drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis causes more deaths than any other infectious disease worldwide, with pulmonary tuberculosis being the most common form. Standard first-line treatment for drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis for six months comprises isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol (HRZE) for two months, followed by HRE (in areas of high TB drug resistance) or HR, given over a four-month continuation phase. Many people do not complete this full course. Shortened treatment regimens that are equally effective and safe could improve treatment success. ⋯ Evidence to date does not support the use of shortened ATT regimens in adults with newly diagnosed drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis. Four-month ATT regimens that replace ethambutol with moxifloxacin or gatifloxacin, or isoniazid with moxifloxacin, increase relapse substantially compared to standard six-month ATT regimens, although treatment success and serious adverse events are little or no different. The results of six large ongoing trials will help inform decisions on whether shortened ATT regimens can replace standard six-month ATT regimens. 9 December 2019 Up to date All studies incorporated from most recent search All eligible published studies found in the last search (10 Jul, 2019) were included.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Dec 2019
Meta AnalysisProphylactic antibiotics for penetrating abdominal trauma: duration of use and antibiotic choice.
Penetrating abdominal trauma (PAT) is a common type of trauma leading to admission to hospital, which often progresses to septic complications. Antibiotics are commonly administered as prophylaxis prior to laparotomy for PAT. However, an earlier Cochrane Review intending to compare antibiotics with placebo identified no relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Despite this, many RCTs have been carried out that compare different agents and durations of antibiotic therapy. To date, no systematic review of these trials has been performed. ⋯ Very low-quality evidence means that we are uncertain about the effect of either the duration of antibiotic prophylaxis, or the superiority of one drug regimen over another for penetrating abdominal trauma on abdominal surgical site infection rates, mortality, or intra-abdominal infections. Future RCTs should be adequately powered, test currently used antibiotics, known to be effective against gut flora, use methodology to minimise the risk of bias, and adequately report the level of peritoneal contamination encountered at laparotomy.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Dec 2019
Meta AnalysisModafinil for people with schizophrenia or related disorders.
People with schizophrenia have a range of different symptoms, including positive symptoms (hallucinations and delusions), negative symptoms (such as social withdrawal and lack of affect), and cognitive impairment. The standard medication for people with schizophrenia is antipsychotics. However, these medications may not be effective for all symptoms of schizophrenia, as cognitive and negative symptoms are usually hard to treat. Additional therapies or medications are available for the management of these symptoms. Modafinil, a wakefulness-promoting agent most frequently used in narcolepsy or shift work sleep disorder, is one intervention that is theorised to have an effect of these symptoms. ⋯ Due to methodological issues, low sample size, and short duration of the clinical trials as well as high risk of bias for outcome reporting, most of the evidence available for this review is of very low or low quality. For results where quality is low or very low, we are uncertain or very uncertain if the effect estimates are true effects, limiting our conclusions. Specifically, we found that modafinil is no better or worse than placebo at preventing worsening of psychosis; however, we are uncertain about this result. We have more confidence that participants receiving modafinil are no more likely to leave a trial early than participants receiving placebo. However, we are very uncertain about the remaining equivocal results between modafinil and placebo for outcomes such as improvement in global state or cognitive function, incidence of adverse events, and changes in quality of life. More high-quality data are needed before firm conclusions regarding the effects of modafinil for people with schizophrenia or related disorders can be made.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Dec 2019
Meta AnalysisAnti-IL-12/23p40 antibodies for maintenance of remission in Crohn's disease.
Ustekinumab and briakinumab are monoclonal antibodies that target the standard p40 subunit of cytokines interleukin-12 and interleukin-23 (IL-12/23p40), which are involved in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease (CD). A significant proportion of people with Crohn's disease fail conventional therapy or therapy with biologics (e.g. infliximab) or develop significant adverse events. Anti-IL-12/23p40 antibodies such as ustekinumab may be an effective alternative for these individuals. ⋯ Moderate-certainty evidence suggests that ustekinumab is probably effective for the maintenance of clinical remission and response in people with moderate to severe CD in remission without an increased risk of adverse events (high-certainty evidence) or serious adverse events (moderate-certainty evidence) relative to placebo. The effect of briakinumab on maintenance of clinical remission and response in people with moderate to severe Crohn's disease in remission was uncertain as the certainty of the evidence was low. The effect of briakinumab on adverse events and serious adverse events was also uncertain due to low-certainty evidence. Further studies are required to determine the long-term efficacy and safety of subcutaneous ustekinumab maintenance therapy in Crohn's disease and whether it should be used by itself or in combination with other agents. Future research comparing ustekinumab with other biologic medications will help to determine when treatment with ustekinumab in CD is most appropriate. Currently, there is an ongoing study that compares ustekinumab with adalimumab. This review will be updated when the results of this study become available. The manufacturers of briakinumab have stopped production of this medication, thus further studies of briakinumab are unlikely.