Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Dysmenorrhoea (painful menstrual cramps) is common and a major cause of pain in women. Combined oral contraceptives (OCPs) are often used in the management of primary dysmenorrhoea, but there is a need for reporting the benefits and harms. Primary dysmenorrhoea is defined as painful menstrual cramps without pelvic pathology. ⋯ OCPs are effective for treating dysmenorrhoea, but they cause irregular bleeding, and probably headache and nausea. Long-term effects were not covered in this review. Continuous use of OCPs was probably more effective than the standard regimen but safety should be ensured with long-term data. Due to lack of data, we are uncertain whether NSAIDs are better than OCPs for treating dysmenorrhoea.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2023
Review Meta AnalysisTotally tubeless, tubeless, and tubed percutaneous nephrolithotomy for treating kidney stones.
Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) is the standard of care for removing large kidney stones (> 2 cm). Once the procedure is complete, different exiting strategies exist to manage the percutaneous tract opening, including placement of an external nephrostomy tube, placement of an internal ureteral stent, or no external or internal tube. The decision to place or not place a tube is handled differently among clinicians and may affect patient outcomes. ⋯ When comparing tubeless to standard PNL with regard to the predefined primary outcomes of this review, there may be little difference in early postoperative pain, while we are very uncertain of the effect on SAEs. People treated with tubeless PNL may benefit from a reduced length of stay compared to standard PNL. When comparing totally tubeless to standard PNL, early postoperative pain and severe adverse events may be reduced with totally tubeless PNL. The certainty of evidence by outcome was mostly very low (range: moderate to very low) for the comparison of tubeless to standard PNL and low (range: moderate to very low) for the comparison of totally tubeless to standard PNL. The most common reasons for downgrading the certainty of the evidence were study limitations, inconsistency, and imprecision. We did not find randomized trial evidence for other comparisons. Overall, further and higher-quality studies are needed to inform clinical practice.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2023
ReviewInterventions for preventing and reducing the use of physical restraints for older people in all long-term care settings.
Physical restraints (PR), such as bedrails and belts in chairs or beds, are commonly used for older people receiving long-term care, despite clear evidence for the lack of effectiveness and safety, and widespread recommendations that their use should be avoided. This systematic review of the efficacy and safety of interventions to prevent and reduce the use of physical restraints outside hospital settings, i.e. in care homes and the community, updates our previous review published in 2011. ⋯ Organisational interventions aimed to implement a least-restraint policy probably reduce the number of residents with at least one PR and probably largely reduce the number of residents with at least one belt. We are uncertain whether simple educational interventions reduce the use of physical restraints, and interventions providing information about residents' fall risk may result in little to no difference in the use of physical restraints. These results apply to long-term care institutions; we found no studies from community settings.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2023
ReviewNasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) versus nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) for preterm neonates after extubation.
Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) is a useful method for providing respiratory support after extubation. Nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) can augment NCPAP by delivering ventilator breaths via nasal prongs. ⋯ NIPPV likely reduces the incidence of extubation failure and the need for reintubation within 48 hours to one-week postextubation more effectively than NCPAP in very preterm infants (GA 28 weeks and above). There is a paucity of data for infants less than 28 weeks' gestation. Pulmonary air leaks were also potentially reduced in the NIPPV group. However, it has no effect on other clinically relevant outcomes such as gastrointestinal perforation, NEC, chronic lung disease or mortality. Ventilator-generated NIPPV appears superior to bilevel devices in reducing the incidence of respiratory failure postextubation failure and need for reintubation. Synchronisation used to deliver NIPPV may be important; however, data are insufficient to support strong conclusions. Future trials should enrol a sufficient number of infants, particularly those less than 28 weeks' GA, to detect differences in death or chronic lung disease and should compare different categories of devices, establish the impact of synchronisation of NIPPV on safety and efficacy of the technique as well as the best combination of settings for NIPPV (rate, peak pressure and positive end-expiratory). Trials should strive to match the mean airway pressure between the intervention groups to allow a better comparison. Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist needs further assessment with properly powered randomised trials.
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Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) are a serious manifestation of chronic venous disease affecting up to 3% of the adult population. This typically recalcitrant and recurring condition significantly impairs quality of life, and its treatment places a heavy financial burden upon healthcare systems. The longstanding mainstay treatment for VLUs is compression therapy. Surgical removal of incompetent veins reduces the risk of ulcer recurrence. However, open surgery is an unpopular option amongst people with VLU, and many people are unsuitable for it. The efficacy of the newer, minimally-invasive endovenous techniques has been established in uncomplicated superficial venous disease, and these techniques can also be used in the management of VLU. When used with compression, endovenous ablation aims to further reduce pressure in the veins of the leg, which may impact ulcer healing. ⋯ Endovenous ablation of superficial venous incompetence in combination with compression improves leg ulcer healing when compared with compression alone. This conclusion is based on high-certainty evidence. There is moderate-certainty evidence to suggest that it is probably cost-effective at one year and low certainty evidence of unclear effects on recurrence and complications. Further research is needed to explore the additional benefit of endovenous ablation in ulcers of greater than six months duration and the optimal modality of endovenous ablation.