Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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This review is one in a series of reviews of interventions for lateral elbow pain. Lateral elbow pain, or tennis elbow, is a common condition causing pain in the elbow and forearm and lack of strength and function of the elbow and wrist. Acupuncture has long been used to treat lateral elbow pain in China and in Western countries practitioners and consumers are increasingly exploring acupuncture as a first line treatment for musculoskeletal disorders. No previous systematic review of the available evidence has been conducted to determine whether acupuncture is efficacious in the treatment lateral elbow pain. ⋯ There is insufficient evidence to either support or refute the use of acupuncture (either needle or laser) in the treatment of lateral elbow pain. This review has demonstrated needle acupuncture to be of short term benefit with respect to pain, but this finding is based on the results of 2 small trials, the results of which were not able to be combined in meta-analysis. No benefit lasting more than 24 hours following treatment has been demonstrated. No trial assessed or commented on potential adverse effect. Further trials, utilising appropriate methods and adequate sample sizes, are needed before conclusions can be drawn regarding the effect of acupuncture on tennis elbow.
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Pleural empyema is a collection of pus between the lungs and the chest wall. Approximately 50% of cases complicate pneumonia. There are a variety of treatment options ranging from intravenous antibiotics alone to open thoracotomy and debridement, depending in part on the stage of the empyema and the severity. The condition changes with time, becoming loculated and more difficult to drain. There is much debate about the most appropriate therapy particularly with the advent of new treatments such as fibrinolytic enzymes (e.g. streptokinase, urokinase) and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). ⋯ It would appear that for large, loculated pleural empyemas VATS is superior to chest tube drainage with streptokinase in terms of duration of chest tubes and hospital stay. However there are questions about validity and the study is also too small to draw conclusions. There are risks of complications (associated with all treatments) which may not apparent with small numbers. VATS is performed under general anaesthetic and one lung ventilation. Fibrinolytics are also associated with side effects. Further larger multicentre studies need to be conducted.
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Smoking rates in adolescents are rising. Helping young people to avoid starting smoking is a widely endorsed goal of public health, but there is uncertainty about how to do this. Schools provide a route for communicating with a large proportion of young people, and school-based programmes for smoking prevention have been widely developed and evaluated. ⋯ There is no rigorous test of the effects of information giving about smoking. There are well-conducted randomised controlled trials to test the effects of social influences interventions: in half of the group of best quality studies those in the intervention group smoke less than those in the control, but many studies showed no effect of the intervention. There is a lack of high-quality evidence about the effectiveness of combinations of social influences and social competence interventions, and of multi-modal programmes that include community interventions.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2002
Review Meta AnalysisProphylactic antibiotic administration in pregnancy to prevent infectious morbidity and mortality.
Some previous studies suggested that prophylactic antibiotics given during pregnancy improved maternal and perinatal outcomes, some did not show any benefit and some even reported adverse effects. ⋯ Antibiotic prophylaxis given during the second or third trimester of pregnancy reduces the risk of prelabour rupture of the membranes when given routinely to pregnant women. Beneficial effects on birth weight and the risk of postpartum endometritis were seen for high risk women.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2002
Review Meta AnalysisAntibiotic duration for treating uncomplicated, symptomatic lower urinary tract infections in elderly women.
Urinary tract infections are common in elderly patients. Authors of non systematic literature reviews often recommend longer treatment durations (7-14 days) for older patients than for younger women, but the scientific evidence for such recommendations is not clear. ⋯ This review suggests that single dose antibiotic treatment is less effective but may be better accepted by the patients than longer treatment durations (3-14 days). In addition there was no significant difference between short course (3-6 days) versus longer course (7-14 days) antibiotics. The methodological quality of the identified trials was poor and the optimal treatment duration could not be determined. We therefore need more appropriately designed randomized controlled trials testing the effect, - on clinical relevant outcomes -, of different treatment durations of a given antibiotic in a strictly defined population of elderly women.