Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2003
ReviewDevelopmental care for promoting development and preventing morbidity in preterm infants.
Preterm infants experience a range of morbidity related to the immaturity of their organ systems and to concurrent disease states. An unfavourable environment in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) may compound this morbidity. Modification of the environment could minimize the iatrogenic effects. Developmental care is a broad category of interventions designed to minimize the stress of the NICU environment. These interventions may include one or more elements such as control of external stimuli (vestibular, auditory, visual, tactile), clustering of nursery care activities, and positioning or swaddling of the preterm infant. Individual strategies have also been combined to form programs, such as the 'Neonatal Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program' (NIDCAP) (Als 1986). ⋯ Because of the inclusion of multiple interventions in most studies, the determination of the effect of any single intervention is difficult. Although there is evidence of some benefit of developmental care interventions overall, and no major harmful effects reported, there were a large number of outcomes for which no or conflicting effects were demonstrated. The single trials that did show a significant effect of an intervention on a major clinical outcome were based on small sample sizes, and the findings were often not supported in other small trials. Before a clear direction for practice can be supported, evidence demonstrating more consistent effects of developmental care interventions on important short- and long-term clinical outcomes is needed. The economic impact of the implementation and maintenance of developmental care practices should be considered by individual institutions.
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Acute bacterial meningitis remains a disease with high mortality rate, ranging from 10 to 30 percent, despite advances in critical care. It has been estimated that between 5 to 40 percent of all patients can suffer hearing loss. The use of corticosteroids as adjuvant therapy in the treatment of acute bacterial meningitis is controversial despite several controlled clinical trials and three meta-analyses. In particular there are few data on the use of corticosteroids in adult meningitis. ⋯ Adjuvant corticosteroids are beneficial in the treatment of children with acute bacterial meningitis. The limited data available in adults shows a trend in favour of adjuvant corticosteroids but a definite recommendation must await more studies. ERRATUM: During the review process of this systematic review the results of the European Dexamethasone in Adulthood Bacterial Meningitis Trial were published. (De Gans 2002) In this prospective, randomised, double-blind, multicenter trial, which included 301 adults with bacterial meningitis, treatment with dexamethasone was associated with a reduction in mortality (relative risk of death, 0.48; 95 CI 0.24 to 0.96; p = 0.04). Therefore, dexamethasone should be given to all adults with bacterial meningitis and should be initiated before or with the first dose of antibiotics.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2003
Review Meta AnalysisMast-cell stabilising agents to prevent exercise-induced bronchoconstriction.
Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (or asthma) following strenuous physical exertion is common and can cause sub-optimal performance, symptoms such as cough, dyspnea, wheeze, chest tightness, and can lead people to avoid physical activity. Management focuses on prevention with pre-exercise treatment using various pharmacologic agents. Mast cell stabilizing agents are effective in attenuating exercise-induced bronchoconstriction but their effectiveness compared to bronchodilator agents is unclear. ⋯ In a population of stable asthmatics short acting beta-agonists, mast cell stabilisers, or anticholinergics will provide a significant protective effect against exercise-induced bronchoconstriction with few adverse effects. On average, SABAs resulted in more effective attenuation than mast cell stabilisers, while mast cell stabilisers were more effective than anti-cholinergic agents. Combining SABA and mast cell stabilisers may be appropriate in selected cases. The variability in the individual degree of response to these drugs in multi arm trials suggests clinicians and patients work together to identify the most effective prophylactic therapy.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2003
Review Meta AnalysisTranscutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for dementia.
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is the application of an electrical current through electrodes attached to the skin. The commonest clinical application of TENS is pain control. TENS is also used occasionally for the treatment of a range of neurological and psychiatric conditions including drug and alcohol dependence, headaches, and depression. TENS is rarely used for the treatment of dementia. However, since the early 1990s a number of studies carried out by a group in the Netherlands, and one study carried out by a group in Japan, suggest that TENS applied to the back or head may improve cognition and behaviour in patients with Alzheimer's disease or multi-infarct dementia. It was claimed that applying TENS could benefit patients with dementia by altering the activity of various neurotransmitters, or by increasing brain activity and thereby retarding neural degeneration and stimulating regenerative processes. It is claimed that application of TENS to the head may also alleviate the sleep disorders associated with dementia. ⋯ Although a number of studies suggest that TENS may produce short lived improvements in some neuropsychological or behavioural aspects of dementia, the limited presentation and availability of data from these studies does not allow definite conclusions on the possible benefits of this intervention. Since most of the currently published studies are well designed, although the numbers of subjects in each study is small, analysis of the complete original data from these and/or future studies may allow more definitive conclusions to be drawn.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2003
Review Meta AnalysisInfant position in neonates receiving mechanical ventilation.
Several body positions other than standard supine position have been used in patients undergoing intensive care for reducing the incidence of pressure ulcers of the skin, contractures or ankylosis and for improving the patient's well being. In patients from different age groups undergoing mechanical ventilation (MV), it has been observed that particular positions such as prone position may improve some respiratory parameters. Benefits from these positions have not been clearly defined in Neonatology, a field where it is common that patients require mechanical ventilation sometimes during extended time periods. ⋯ The prone position was found to slightly improve the oxygenation in neonates undergoing mechanical ventilation. However, we found no evidence concerning whether particular body positions during mechanical ventilation of the neonate are effective in producing sustained and clinically relevant improvements.