Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2020
Review Meta AnalysisVigabatrin add-on therapy for drug-resistant focal epilepsy.
This is an updated version of the original Cochrane Review published in 2008 and updated in 2013. Epilepsy is a common neurological condition which affects up to 1% of the population. Approximately 30% of people with epilepsy do not respond to treatment with currently available drugs. The majority of these people have focal epilepsy. Vigabatrin is an antiepileptic drug licensed for use in drug-resistant epilepsy. ⋯ Vigabatrin may significantly reduce seizure frequency in people with drug-resistant focal epilepsy. The results largely apply to adults and should not be extrapolated to children under 10 years old. Short-term follow-up of participants showed that some adverse effects were associated with its use. Analysis of longer-term observational studies elsewhere, however, has demonstrated that vigabatrin use can lead to the development of visual field defects.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2020
Review Meta AnalysisGlucose-lowering agents for treating pre-existing and new-onset diabetes in kidney transplant recipients.
Kidney transplantation is the preferred management for patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). However, it is often complicated by worsening or new-onset diabetes. The safety and efficacy of glucose-lowering agents after kidney transplantation is largely unknown. This is an update of a review first published in 2017. ⋯ The efficacy and safety of glucose-lowering agents in the treatment of pre-existing and new-onset diabetes in kidney transplant recipients is questionable. Evidence from existing studies examining the effect of intensive insulin therapy, DPP-4 inhibitors, SGLT inhibitors and glitazones is mostly of low to very low certainty. Appropriately blinded, larger, and higher quality RCTs are needed to evaluate and compare the safety and efficacy of contemporary glucose-lowering agents in the kidney transplant population.
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Burn injuries are an important health problem. They occur frequently in the head and neck region. The face is the area central to a person's identity that provides our most expressive means of communication. Topical interventions are currently the cornerstone of treatment of burns to the face. ⋯ There is mainly low to very low-certainty evidence on the effects of any topical intervention on wound healing in people with facial burns. The number of RCTs in burn care is growing, but the body of evidence is still hampered due to an insufficient number of studies that follow appropriate evidence-based standards of conducting and reporting RCTs.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2020
Review Meta AnalysisEarly fortification of human milk versus late fortification to promote growth in preterm infants.
Uncertainty exists about the optimal point at which multi-component fortifier should be added to human milk for promoting growth in preterm infants. The most common practice is to start fortification when the infant's daily enteral feed volume reaches 100 mL/kg body weight. Another approach is to commence fortification earlier, in some cases as early as the first enteral feed. Early fortification of human milk could increase nutrient intake and growth rates but may increase the risk of feed intolerance and necrotising enterocolitis (NEC). ⋯ Available evidence is insufficient to support or refute early fortification of human milk in preterm infants. Further large trials would be needed to provide data of sufficient quality and precision to inform policy and practice.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2020
ReviewTopical anaesthesia plus intracameral lidocaine versus topical anaesthesia alone for phacoemulsification cataract surgery in adults.
Phacoemulsification cataract surgery is usually performed in adults under local anaesthesia. Topical anaesthesia, which involves instilling anaesthetic drops to the ocular surface prior to and during surgery, has found large acceptance internationally. It is safe and allows for rapid patient turnover and visual recovery. Some surgeons have supplemented topical anaesthesia with intracameral lidocaine, reasoning that this may further reduce intraoperative pain, particularly during surgical stages involving manipulation of intraocular structures and rapid changes in fluid dynamics. This review, originally published in 2006 and updated in 2020, explores the efficacy and safety of using supplementary intracameral lidocaine in phacoemulsification cataract surgery. ⋯ There is moderate-quality evidence that supplementation of topical anaesthesia with intracameral lidocaine 0.5% to 1% for phacoemulsification cataract surgery in adults reduces participant perception of intraoperative pain. The odds of experiencing any pain (as opposed to no pain) were 60% less for the topical anaesthesia plus intracameral lidocaine group versus the topical anaesthesia-only group. However, the numerical amplitude of the effect may not be of great clinical significance on the continuous pain score scale. Generally, the pain scores were consistently low for both techniques. We found moderate-quality evidence that there is no additional benefit of intracameral lidocaine on postoperative pain. There is insufficient evidence to determine the impact on participant satisfaction and need for additional intraoperative anaesthesia due to low-quality evidence. There is moderate-quality evidence that intracameral lidocaine supplementation does not increase measures of intraocular toxicity, specifically loss of corneal endothelial cells. There is low-quality evidence that the incidence of intraoperative adverse events is unchanged with intracameral lidocaine supplementation, but as RCTs are not the optimum medium for looking at this, this result should be interpreted with caution. Further research specifically investigating the adverse effects of intracameral anaesthesia might help to better determine its safety profile. Economic evaluations would also be useful for detailing cost implications.