Cochrane Db Syst Rev
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · May 2011
Review Meta AnalysisWITHDRAWN: Exercise for treating anterior cruciate ligament injuries in combination with collateral ligament and meniscal damage of the knee in adults.
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the most frequently injured ligament of the knee. The ACL may be damaged in isolation but often other ligaments and menisci are implicated. The injury may be managed surgically or conservatively. Injury causes pain, effusion and inflammation leading to alteration in muscle function. Regaining muscular control is essential if the individual wishes to return to pre-injury level of function and patients will invariably be referred for rehabilitation. ⋯ This review has demonstrated an absence of evidence to support one form of exercise intervention over another. Further research should be considered in the form of large scale well-designed and well-reported randomised controlled trials with suitable outcome measures and surveillance periods. Suitable outcome measures should include a measure of functional outcome relevant to the individual.
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · May 2011
Review Meta AnalysisInterventions targeted at women to encourage the uptake of cervical screening.
World-wide, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women. Increasing the uptake of screening, alongside increasing informed choice is of great importance in controlling this disease through prevention and early detection. ⋯ There is evidence to support the use of invitation letters to increase the uptake of cervical screening. There is limited evidence to support educational interventions but it is unclear what format is most effective. The majority of the studies are from developed countries and so the relevance to developing countries is unclear.
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · May 2011
Review Meta AnalysisOral or topical nasal steroids for hearing loss associated with otitis media with effusion in children.
Otitis media with effusion (OME) is common and may cause hearing loss with associated developmental delay. Treatment remains controversial. ⋯ While oral steroids, especially when used in combination with an oral antibiotic, lead to a quicker resolution of OME in the short term, there is no evidence of longer-term benefit and no evidence that they relieve symptoms of hearing loss. We found no evidence of benefit from treatment of OME with topical intranasal steroids, alone or in combination with an antibiotic, either at short or longer-term follow up.
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · May 2011
Review Meta AnalysisAntibiotic prophylaxis for transrectal prostate biopsy.
Transrectal prostate biopsy (TRPB) is a well established procedure used to obtain tissue for the histological diagnosis of carcinoma of the prostate. Despite the fact that TRPB is generally considered a safe procedure, it may be accompanied by traumatic and infective complications, including asymptomatic bacteriuria (bacteria in the urine), urinary tract infection (UTI), transitory bacteremia (bacteria in the blood), fever episodes, and sepsis (pathogenic microorganisms or their toxins in the blood). Although infective complications after TRPB are well known, there is uncertainty about the necessity and effectiveness of routine prophylactic antibiotics and their adverse effects, as well as a clear lack of standardization. ⋯ Antibiotic prophylaxis is effective in preventing infectious complications following TRPB. There is no definitive data to confirm that antibiotics for long-course (3 days) are superior to short-course treatments (1 day), or that multiple-dose treatment is superior to single-dose.
-
Cochrane Db Syst Rev · May 2011
Review Meta AnalysisConsumer-oriented interventions for evidence-based prescribing and medicines use: an overview of systematic reviews.
Numerous systematic reviews exist on interventions to improve consumers' medicines use, but this research is distributed across diseases, populations and settings. The scope and focus of reviews on consumers' medicines use also varies widely. Such differences create challenges for decision makers seeking review-level evidence to inform decisions about medicines use. ⋯ Systematically assembling the evidence across reviews allows identification of effective or promising interventions to improve consumers' medicines use, as well as those for which the evidence indicates ineffectiveness or uncertainty.Decision makers faced with implementing interventions to improve consumers' medicines use can use this overview to inform these decisions and also to consider the range of interventions available; while researchers and funders can use this overview to determine where research is needed. However, the limitations of the literature relating to the lack of evidence for important outcomes and specific populations, such as people with multimorbidity, should also be considered.