Journal of clinical pharmacy and therapeutics
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Review Meta Analysis
Network meta-analysis of Chinese herb injections combined with FOLFOX chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer.
Research has indicated that some Chinese herb injections (CHIs) might be beneficial in combination with chemotherapy, including remedies that might be used as effective chemosensitizers and radiosensitizers, or as palliative therapy. Here, we carried out a network meta-analysis to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of CHIs combined with oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin (FOLFOX) for advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). ⋯ Most of the included studies were of low quality, and there was a scarcity of eligible trials and numbers of participants. Based on currently limited evidence, aidi, shenqifuzheng and compound matrine were superior to other CHIs in patients receiving FOLFOX chemotherapy for advanced CRC. More studies are required to confirm the efficacy of CHIs in combination with FOLFOX for advanced CRC.
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Midazolam (MDZ) is commonly used for sedating critically ill patients. The daily dose required for adequate sedation increases in increments over 100 h after administration. The objectives of this study were to characterize the MDZ pharmacokinetics in critically ill patients and to describe the phenomenon of increasing daily dose by means of population pharmacokinetic analysis. ⋯ Autoinduction and total bilirubin were significant predictors of the clearance of MDZ in this population. Step-by-step dosage adjustment using this population pharmacokinetic model may be useful for establishing a MDZ dosage regimen in critically ill patients.
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Identification of adequate antimicrobial dosing regimens for morbidly obese patients is essential given the simultaneous increase in morbid obesity and cellulitis prevalence in recent years. Insufficient data currently exist to describe the effectiveness of extrapolating traditional antibiotic dosing strategies to morbidly obese patients with cellulitis. The primary objective of this study was to compare therapeutic failure rates in non-obese and morbidly obese patients with cellulitis when treated with cephalexin at standard dosing. ⋯ Cephalexin failure rates for cellulitis did not differ statistically between morbidly obese and non-obese patients. The underpowered nature of this study is a limitation. Until further study with a larger sample size is completed, empiric adjustment of cephalexin dosing based solely on BMI may not be necessary.