Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2000
ReviewAntiplatelet therapy for preventing stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation and no previous history of stroke or transient ischemic attacks.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) carries an increased risk of stroke; antiplatelet agents are proven effective for stroke prevention in other settings. ⋯ Considering all randomized data, aspirin modestly (by about 20%) reduces stroke and major vascular events in nonvalvular AF. For primary prevention among AF patients with an average stroke rate of 4.5%/year, about 10 strokes would be prevented yearly for every 1000 given aspirin.
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Anti-psychotic drugs are the mainstay treatment for schizophrenia. Long-acting depot injections of drugs such as bromperidol decanoate are extensively used as a means of long-term maintenance treatment. ⋯ Currently, extrapolating from minimal trial data suggests that bromperidol decanoate may be better than a placebo injection but less valuable than fluphenazine or haloperidol decanoate. If bromperidol decanoate is available to the clinician it may be a viable choice, especially when there are reasons not to use fluphenazine or haloperidol decanoate. Well-conducted and reported randomised trials are urgently needed to inform practice in Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2000
ReviewSubjective barriers to prevent wandering of cognitively impaired people.
People with dementia often wander, at times putting themselves at risk and presenting challenges to carers and institutional staff. Traditional interventions to prevent wandering include restraint, drugs and locked doors. Cognitively impaired people may respond to environmental stimuli (sounds, images, smells) in ways distinct from healthy people. This has led to trials of visual and other selective barriers (such as mirrors, camouflage, grids/stripes of tape) that may reduce wandering. ⋯ There is no evidence that subjective barriers prevent wandering in cognitively impaired people.
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Standard treatment for bronchiectasis comprises postural drainage and various regimes of antibiotic therapy. If the disease is confined to localised areas of lung, surgical resection of the affected segments is often performed. ⋯ Surgical treatment of bronchiectasis is widely used, but there appear to be no randomised controlled trials. It is not possible to provide an unbiased estimate of its benefit compared to conservative therapy.
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Intravenous prostaglandin E2 and F2 alpha can be used to induce labour. The use of intravenous prostaglandins in this context has been limited by perceived unacceptable maternal side effect profiles. This is one of a series of reviews of methods of cervical ripening and labour induction using standardised methodology. ⋯ Intravenous prostaglandin is no more efficient than intravenous oxytocin for the induction of labour but its use is associated with higher rates of maternal side effects and uterine hyperstimulation than oxytocin. No conclusions can be drawn form the comparisons of combination of prostaglandin F2 alpha and oxytocin compared to oxytocin alone or extra amniotic and intravenous prostaglandin E2.