BMJ : British medical journal
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Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Collaborative systematic review of the randomised trials of organised inpatient (stroke unit) care after stroke. Stroke Unit Trialists' Collaboration.
To define the characteristics and determine the effectiveness of organised inpatient (stroke unit) care compared with conventional care in reducing death, dependency, and the requirement for long term institutional care after stroke. ⋯ Organised stroke unit care resulted in long term reductions in death, dependency, and the need for institutional care. The observed benefits were not restricted to any particular subgroup of patients or model of stroke unit care. No systematic increase in the use of resources (in terms of length of stay) was apparent.
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Meta Analysis
A quantitative systematic review of ondansetron in treatment of established postoperative nausea and vomiting.
To test the evidence for a dose-response with ondansetron for treatment of postoperative nausea and vomiting and to establish whether differences in efficacy between doses are of clinical relevance. ⋯ Further nausea and vomiting could be prevented with ondansetron compared with placebo in 25% of patients who had nausea or vomiting (number needed to treat, about 4). There was no evidence of a clinically relevant dose-response between 1 mg and 8 mg or a difference between ondansetron and either droperidol or metoclopramide in a limited dataset. A false impression of ondansetron's efficacy may arise because a quarter of all relevant published reports are duplicates, and reporting of study results is uncritical.