Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2000
ReviewPeripheral retinal ablation for threshold retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants.
This section is under preparation and will be included in the next issue. ⋯ Peripheral retinal ablation reduces the incidence of adverse ophthalmic outcome in premature infants with threshold ROP. In sighted eyes, peripheral retinal ablation may reduce the size of the visual field. At this stage, long term outcomes remain unknown.
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Surgical bypass of an occluded arterial segment is the mainstay of treatment for patients with critical limb ischaemia. As with many surgical interventions, however, it was introduced without formal evaluation. ⋯ There is limited evidence for the effectiveness of bypass surgery and further large trials are required.
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Thioridazine is a piperidine phenothiazine used for the treatment of people with schizophrenia. It has often been considered the drug of choice in the elderly because of reputed lower levels of extrapyramidal adverse events. It may, however, be more likely to cause cognitive adverse events, such as delirium or worsening of memory, and, on rare occasions, thioridazine has caused pigmentary retinopathy. ⋯ Although there are shortcomings and gaps in the data, there appears to be enough consistency over different outcomes and periods to confirm that thioridazine is an antipsychotic of similar efficacy to other commonly used neuroleptics for people with schizophrenia. Its adverse events profile is similar to that of other drugs, but it may have a lower level of extrapyramidal problems. (ABSTRACT TRU
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The role of oral ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in the prevention and treatment of colds remains controversial despite many controlled trials. There have also been a number of efforts to synthesize and/or overview the results of these trials, and controversy over what these overviews tell us. ⋯ Long term daily supplementation with vitamin C in large doses daily does not appear to prevent colds. There appears to be a modest benefit in reducing duration of cold symptoms from ingestion of relatively high doses of vitamin C. The relation of dose to therapeutic benefit needs further exploration.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2000
ReviewZuclopenthixol acetate in the treatment of acute schizophrenia and similar serious mental illnesses.
People with schizophrenia or other psychotic illnesses may have delusions or hallucinations that may lead them to be aggressive or violent to themselves or others. Medication that is used in this context require the properties of rapid onset of effect (tranquillisation or at least initial sedation in order to quell aggressive or disorganised behaviour, but also antipsychotic effect), low frequency of administration and low levels of side effects, such as cardiological or neurological side effects, or pain at the injection site. Zuclopenthixol is the cis(Z)-isomer of clopenthixol, a neuroleptic of the thioxanthene group, used for treating people with psychotic symptoms. There is one oral preparation and two depot forms: zuclopenthixol acetate and zuclopenthixol decanoate. The acetate version does not stay in the body for very long (a single dose persists for only 72 hours) and is said to have these properties. ⋯ Recommendations on the use of zuclopenthixol acetate for the management of psychiatric emergencies in preference to 'standard' treatment have to be viewed with caution. Most trials present important methodological flaws and findings are poorly reported. This review did not find any suggestion that zuclopenthixol acetate is more effective in controlling aggressive/disorganised behaviour, acute psychotic symptoms, or preventing side effects. There were no data directly related to tranquillisation, but it may produce more earlier and intense sedation than oral haloperidol. Well conducted randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm claims related to the use of zuclopenthixol acetate in emergency psychiatry.