Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2008
Review Meta AnalysisSingle dose oral paracetamol (acetaminophen) for postoperative pain in adults.
This is an updated version of the original Cochrane review published in Issue 1, 2004 - this original review had been split from a previous title on 'Single dose paracetamol (acetaminophen) with and without codeine for postoperative pain'. The last version of this review concluded that paracetamol is an effective analgesic for postoperative pain, but additional trials have since been published. This review sought to evaluate the efficacy and safety of paracetamol using current data, and to compare the findings with other analgesics evaluated in the same way. ⋯ A single dose of paracetamol provides effective analgesia for about half of patients with acute postoperative pain, for a period of about four hours, and is associated with few, mainly mild, adverse events.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2008
Review Meta AnalysisBlood pressure lowering efficacy of angiotensin receptor blockers for primary hypertension.
Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are widely prescribed for hypertension so it is essential to determine and compare their effects on blood pressure (BP), heart rate and withdrawals due to adverse effects (WDAE). ⋯ The evidence from this review suggests that there are no clinically meaningful BP lowering differences between available ARBs. The BP lowering effect of ARBs is modest and similar to ACE inhibitors as a class; the magnitude of average trough BP lowering for ARBs at maximum recommended doses and above is -8/-5 mmHg. Furthermore, 60 to 70% of this trough BP lowering effect occurs with recommended starting doses. The review did not provide a good estimate of the incidence of harms associated with ARBs because of the short duration of the trials and the lack of reporting of adverse effects in many of the trials.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2008
Review Meta AnalysisInhaled sodium cromoglycate for asthma in children.
Sodium cromoglycate has been recommended as maintenance treatment for childhood asthma for many years. Its use has decreased since 1990, when inhaled corticosteroids became popular, but it is still used in many countries. ⋯ There is insufficient evidence to be sure about the efficacy of sodium cromoglycate over placebo. Publication bias is likely to have overestimated the beneficial effects of sodium cromoglycate as maintenance therapy in childhood asthma.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2008
Review Meta AnalysisPit and fissure sealants for preventing dental decay in the permanent teeth of children and adolescents.
Although pit and fissure sealants are effective in preventing caries, their efficacy may be related to the caries prevalence in the population. ⋯ Sealing is a recommended procedure to prevent caries of the occlusal surfaces of permanent molars. The effectiveness of sealants is obvious at high caries risk but information on the benefits of sealing specific to different caries risks is lacking.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Oct 2008
Review Meta AnalysisPsychosocial combined with agonist maintenance treatments versus agonist maintenance treatments alone for treatment of opioid dependence.
Maintenance treatments are effective in retaining patients in treatment and suppressing heroin use. Questions remain regarding the efficacy of additional psychosocial services offered by most maintenance programs. ⋯ Results suggest that adding any psychosocial support to maintenance treatments improve the number of participants abstinent at follow up; no differences for the other outcome measures. Data do not show differences between different psychosocial interventions also for contingency approaches, contrary to all expectations. Duration of the studies was too short to analyse relevant outcomes such as mortality.