Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2015
Review Meta AnalysisOral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs versus other oral analgesic agents for acute soft tissue injury.
Acute soft tissue injuries are common and costly. The best drug treatment for such injuries is not certain, although non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are often recommended. ⋯ There is generally low- or very low-quality but consistent evidence of no clinically important difference in analgesic efficacy between NSAIDs and other oral analgesics. There is low-quality evidence of more gastrointestinal adverse effects with non-selective NSAID compared with paracetamol. There is low- or very low-quality evidence of better function and fewer adverse events with NSAIDs compared with opioid-containing analgesics; however, one study dominated this evidence using a now unavailable COX-2 selective NSAID and is of uncertain applicability. Further research is required to determine whether there is any difference in return to function or adverse effects between both non-selective and COX-2 selective NSAIDs versus paracetamol.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2015
Review Meta AnalysisSustained versus standard inflations during neonatal resuscitation to prevent mortality and improve respiratory outcomes.
At birth, infants' lungs are fluid-filled; this fluid must be replaced by air to allow for effective breathing. Some infants are judged to have inadequate breathing at birth and are resuscitated with positive pressure ventilation (PPV). Giving prolonged (sustained) inflations at the start of PPV may help clear lung fluid and establish gas volume in the lungs. ⋯ At present there is insufficient evidence from clinical trials to determine the efficacy and safety of initial sustained lung inflation for newborn infants resuscitated with PPV. RCTs comparing PPV with and without sustained inflations at neonatal resuscitation are warranted.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2015
Review Meta AnalysisAntiviral treatment for Bell's palsy (idiopathic facial paralysis).
Corticosteroids are widely used in the treatment of idiopathic facial paralysis (Bell's palsy), but the effectiveness of additional treatment with an antiviral agent is uncertain. Significant morbidity can be associated with severe cases of Bell's palsy. ⋯ Moderate-quality evidence from randomised controlled trials showed no additional benefit from the combination of antivirals with corticosteroids compared to corticosteroids alone for the treatment of Bell's palsy of various degrees of severity. Moderate-quality evidence showed a small but just significant benefit of combination therapy compared with corticosteroids alone in severe Bell's palsy. Corticosteroids alone were more effective than antivirals alone and antivirals plus corticosteroids were more effective than placebo or no treatment. There was no benefit from antivirals alone over placebo.Moderate-quality evidence indicated that the combination of antivirals and corticosteroids reduced sequelae of Bell's palsy compared with corticosteroids alone.We found no significant increase in adverse events from the use of antivirals compared with either placebo or corticosteroids, based on moderate-quality evidence.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2015
Review Meta AnalysisMid-urethral sling operations for stress urinary incontinence in women.
Urinary incontinence is a very common and debilitating problem affecting about 50% of women at some point in their lives. Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a contributory or predominant cause in 30% to 80% of these women. Mid-urethral sling (MUS) operations are a recognised minimally invasive surgical treatment for SUI. MUS involves the passage of a small strip of tape through either the retropubic or obturator space, with entry or exit points at the lower abdomen or groin, respectively. This review does not include single incision slings. ⋯ Mid-urethral sling operations have been the most extensively researched surgical treatment for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women and have a good safety profile. Irrespective of the routes traversed, they are highly effective in the short and medium term, and accruing evidence demonstrates their effectiveness in the long term. This review illustrates their positive impact on improving the quality of life of women with SUI. With the exception of groin pain, fewer adverse events occur with employment of a transobturator approach. When comparing transobturator techniques of a medial-to-lateral versus a lateral-to-medial insertion, there is no evidence to support the use of one approach over the other. However, a bottom-to-top route was more effective than top-to-bottom route for retropubic tapes.A salient point illustrated throughout this review is the need for reporting of longer-term outcome data from the numerous existing trials. This would substantially increase the evidence base and provide clarification regarding uncertainties about long-term effectiveness and adverse event profile.