Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2010
Review Meta AnalysisPhysical conditioning programs for improving work outcomes in workers with back pain.
Physical conditioning programs aim to improve work status for workers on sick leave. This is an update of a Cochrane Review (Work conditioning, work hardening and functional restoration for workers with back and neck pain) first published in 2003. ⋯ The effectiveness of physical conditioning programs in reducing sick leave when compared to usual care or than other exercises in workers with back pain remains uncertain. In workers with acute back pain, these programs probably have no effect on sick leave, but there may be a positive effect on sick leave for workers with subacute and chronic back pain. Workplace involvement might improve the outcome. Better understanding of the mechanism behind physical conditioning programs and return-to-work is needed to be able to develop more effective interventions.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2010
Review Meta AnalysisNeoadjuvant chemotherapy plus surgery versus surgery for cervical cancer.
A prior systematic review found that giving neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery improved survival compared with radiotherapy. However, the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery versus surgery alone is still unclear. ⋯ Despite outcomes tending to be in favour of neoadjuvant chemotherapy few, including overall survival, were significant. Therefore, it remains unclear whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy consistently offers a benefit over surgery alone for women with early-stage or locally advanced cervical cancer.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2010
Review Meta AnalysisVitamin K prior to preterm birth for preventing neonatal periventricular haemorrhage.
Preterm infants are at risk of periventricular haemorrhage. This can be a sign of brain damage that might lead to neurodevelopmental abnormalities, including cerebral palsy. It has been suggested that vitamin K might improve coagulation in preterm infants and thereby decrease the risk of periventricular haemorrhage. ⋯ Vitamin K administered to women prior to very preterm birth has not been shown to significantly prevent periventricular haemorrhages in preterm infants or improve neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2010
ReviewPrimary surgery versus primary radiation therapy with or without chemotherapy for early adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix.
For early squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix, the outcome is similar after either primary surgery or primary radiotherapy. There are reports that this is not the case for early adenocarcinoma (AC) of the uterine cervix: some studies have reported that the outcome is better after primary surgery. There are no systematic reviews about surgery versus chemoradiation in the treatment of cervical cancer. ⋯ We recommend surgery for early stage AC of the uterine cervix in carefully staged patients. Primary chemoradiation remains a second best alternative for patients unfit for surgery; chemoradiation is probably first choice in patients with (MRI or PET-CT-suspected) positive lymph nodes.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2010
Review Meta AnalysisReducing uncertainties about the effects of chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer: individual patient data meta-analysis.
After a 1999 National Cancer Institute (NCI) clinical alert was issued, chemoradiotherapy has become widely used in treating women with cervical cancer. Two subsequent systematic reviews found that interpretation of the benefits was complicated and some important clinical questions were unanswered. ⋯ These results endorse the recommendations of the NCI alert, but also demonstrate their applicability to all women and a benefit of non-platinum based chemoradiotherapy. Furthermore, although these results suggest an additional benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy this requires testing in RCTs.