Swiss medical weekly
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Meta-analyses overcome the limitation of small sample sizes or rare outcomes by pooling results from a number of individual studies to generate a single best estimate. As long as a meta-analysis is not limited by poor quality of included trials, unexplainable heterogeneity and/or reporting bias of individual trials, meta-analyses can be instrumental in reliably demonstrating benefit or harm of an intervention when results of individual randomised controlled trials are conflicting or inconclusive. Therefore meta-analyses should be conducted as part of a systematic review, i.e., a systematic approach to answer a focused clinical question. ⋯ As opposed to meta-analysis based on aggregate study data, individual patient data meta-analyses offer the advantage to use standardised criteria across trials and reliably investigate subgroup effects of interventions. Network meta-analysis allows the integration of data from direct and indirect comparisons in order to compare multiple treatments in a comprehensive analysis and determine the best treatment among several options. We conclude that meta-analysis has become a popular, versatile, and powerful tool. If rigorously conducted as part of a systematic review, it is essential for evidence-based decision making in clinical practice as well as on the health policy level.
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Swiss medical weekly · Jan 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialEffect of bispectral index monitoring on extubation time and analgesic consumption in abdominal surgery: a randomised clinical trial.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of bispectral index (BIS) monitoring on intra-operative anaesthesia consumption and extubation time. ⋯ Guiding anaesthesia according to BIS level will result in significantly faster recovery after anaesthesia. The investigation was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01470898).
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Swiss medical weekly · Jan 2012
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyNurse-reported patient safety climate in Swiss hospitals: a descriptive-explorative substudy of the Swiss RN4CAST study.
Measuring the patient safety climate in the organisation of healthcare can help to identify problematic issues with a view to improving patient safety. We aimed (1) to describe the nurse-reported engagement in safety behaviours, (2) to describe the prevailing nurse-reported patient safety climate of general medical, surgical and mixed medical-surgical units in Swiss acute-care hospitals and (3) to explore differences between hospital type, unit type and language regions. ⋯ The findings of this study suggest a need to improve the patient safety climate on many units in Swiss hospitals. Leaders in hospitals should strengthen the patient safety climate at unit level by implementing methods, such as root cause analysis or patient safety leadership walk rounds, to improve individual and team skills and redesign work processes. The impact of these efforts should be measured by periodically assessing the patient safety climate with the SOS.
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The term acute kidney injury (AKI) has been recently coined by a large panel of international experts in place of the former expression "acute renal failure". This change has been motivated by a double intention: first it served to definitely find a conventional definition for acute changes of renal function, previously lacking in the medical community. ⋯ The second aim was to remark that this syndrome is characterised by a spectrum of progressive damage, from mild creatinine increase to renal injury to a more severe form, failure: this important concept should increase clinicians awareness to every form of renal dysfunction, even milder ones, in order to improve epidemiologic analyses, potentially preventing eventual AKI progression and finally helping standardisation of medical and supportive therapy. This review will describe such "new era" of critical care nephrology by presenting current literature (and its many controversies) about AKI diagnosis, physiopathology and management.
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Although safety and efficacy of TAVI was improved with next-generation equipment, experience, and careful patient selection, some worrisome complications associated with the procedure remain. Current hot topics in transcatheter aortic valve implantation include patient selection, valve sizing, paravalvular regurgitation, cerebrovascular accidents, vascular complications and need for a permanent pacemaker. In this article we review the pathophysiology, avoidance and treatment options for these complications.