scholarly journals Imaging Improves Efficacy of Vertebroplasty – A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Author(s):  
Jai Jai Shiva Shankar ◽  
Roah Merdad ◽  
Stefanos Finitsis ◽  
Robin Parker

ABSTRACT:Background:Clinical trials with percutaneous vertebral augmentation (PVA) for intractable pain from vertebral compression fractures (VCF) have shown variable results. Variation in the outcomes may be related to poor patient selection on imaging.Objective:To assess if PVA augmentation for osteoporotic VCF results in better improvement in pain when patients were selected based on clinical examination plus imaging vs clinical examination only.Results:A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed. PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were searched from 2000 to May 2018. Two reviewers independently screened and extracted data to identify randomised control trials (RCTs) on PVA for osteoporotic VCF and assessed the risk of bias. Standard systematic review and meta-analysis methods were advocated by the Cochrane Collaboration and PRISMA Statement. A total of 12 RCTs with 1110 participants met the inclusion criteria. Eight of the 10 studies (938 participants) that used imaging to confirm oedema in the target vertebral bodies showed PVA (compared to nonsurgical treatment) was effective in reducing pain (immediate term: mean difference (MD) of −1.89; 95% confidence interval −1.93 to −1.85, p < 0.001; short term: MD of −1.68; 95% CI −1.82 to −1.54, p < 0.001; intermediate term: MD of −2.04; 95% CI −2.15 to −1.94, p < 0.001 and long term: MD of −1.88; 95% CI −1.95 to −1.80, p < 0.001).Conclusions:RCTs using imaging to confirm marrow oedema in the index vertebra showed an improved size effect compared to RCTs using no imaging. This benefit was observed in the immediate, short, intermediate and long term.

Author(s):  
Amanda Gomes de Menêses ◽  
Paula Elaine Diniz dos Reis ◽  
Eliete Neves Silva Guerra ◽  
Graziela De Luca Canto ◽  
Elaine Barros Ferreira

ABSTRACT Objective: to evaluate the effects of trolamine in the prevention or treatment of radiation dermatitis. Method: systematic review and meta-analysis. Detailed individual search strategies for Cinahl, Cochrane Library Central, LILACS, PubMed, and Web of Science were developed in January 2016. A manual search was also performed to find additional references. A grey literature search was executed by using Google Scholar. Two researchers independently read the titles and abstracts from every cross-reference. The risk of bias of the included studies was analyzed by the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Tool. The quality of evidence and grading of strength of recommendations was assessed using Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). Results: seven controlled clinical trials were identified. The controls used were calendula, placebo, institutional preference / usual care, Aquaphor®, RadiaCare™, and Lipiderm™. The studies were pooled using frequency of events and risk ratio with 95% confidence intervals, in subgroups according to radiation dermatitis graduation. Conclusion: based on the studies included in this review, trolamine cannot be considered as a standardized product to prevent or treat radiation dermatitis in patients with breast and head and neck cancer.


Author(s):  
Vincenza Gianfredi ◽  
Lorenzo Blandi ◽  
Stefano Cacitti ◽  
Mirko Minelli ◽  
Carlo Signorelli ◽  
...  

Depression is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease, with high prevalence and relapse rate. Several factors have been considered in order to reduce the depression burden. Among them, physical activity (PA) showed a potential protective role. However, evidence is contrasting probably because of the differences in PA measurement. The aim of this systematic review with meta-analysis is to assess the association between objectively measured PA and incident and prevalent depression. The systematic review was conducted according to methods recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Relevant papers published through 31 August 2019 were identified searching through the electronic databases PubMed/MEDLINE, Excerpta Medica dataBASE (Embase), PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), and the Cochrane Library. All analyses were conducted using ProMeta3. Finally, 42 studies met inclusion criteria. The overall Effect size (ES) of depression for the highest vs. the lowest level of PA was −1.16 [(95% CI = −1.41; −0.91), p-value < 0.001] based on 37,408 participants. The results of the meta-analysis showed a potential protective effect of PA on prevalent and incident depression.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. e047934
Author(s):  
Fabin Lin ◽  
Yanhong Weng ◽  
Xiaofeng Lin ◽  
Dihang Wu ◽  
Yixiao Su ◽  
...  

IntroductionSleep disorders are the main non-motor characteristics of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The quality of life is significantly impacted by rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD). It is not clearly evidenced in the literature that some medications can reduce the dream activities of patients with PD and RBD and improve sleep quality. And, they have side effects that may increase the severity of this disease. To further understand which medication has better efficacy and fewer adverse effects for patients with PD and RBD, it is necessary to perform a network meta-analysis.Methods and analysisThis protocol is performed accordingly to the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols and the Cochrane Collaboration Handbook.A thorough literature selection will be conducted up to September 2021 using PubMed, Cochrane Library (The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) and Embase. We will not only include randomised controlled trials, but prospective, retrospective cohort, case–control, nested case–control, case–cohort, cross-sectional and case series. We will use the Cochrane Collaboration tool to assess the risk of bias. Pairwise and network meta-analyses will be conducted using the R netmeta package and Stata V.14.0. The relative ranking probability of the best intervention will be estimated using the surface under the cumulative ranking curve. Additionally, sensitivity analysis, subgroup analysis, quality assessment and publication bias analysis will be performed.Ethics and disseminationNo research ethics approval is required for this systematic review, as no confidential patient data will be used. We will disseminate our findings through publication in a peer-reviewed journal and conference presentations, and our review will support development of a BMJ Rapid Recommendations providing contextualised clinical guidance based on this body of evidence.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020206958.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 2251
Author(s):  
Maciej Zarow ◽  
Marzena Dominiak ◽  
Katarzyna Szczeklik ◽  
Louis Hardan ◽  
Rim Bourgi ◽  
...  

Various material properties are involved in the success of endodontically treated restorations. At present, restorative composites are commonly employed as core build-up materials. This study aimed to systematically review the literature to assess the effect of using composite core materials on the in vitro fracture of endodontically treated teeth. Two different reviewers screened the literature, up to June 2021, in five distinct electronic databases: PubMed (MedLine), Scopus, Scielo, ISI Web of Science, and EMBASE. Only in vitro studies reporting the effect of the use of composite core materials on the fracture resistance of endodontically treated teeth were included. A meta-analysis was carried out using a software program (Review Manager v5.4.1; The Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, Denmark). The risk of bias in each study was assessed following the parameters of another systematic review. A total of 5016 relevant papers were retrieved from all databases. After assessing the title and abstract, five publications remained for qualitative analysis. From these, only three studies remained for meta-analysis. The fracture strength of endodontically treated teeth where a core build-up composite was used was statistically significantly higher than the control (p = 0.04). Most of the analyses showed a high heterogenicity. The in vitro evidence suggests that the composite core build-up with higher filler content tended to improve the fracture resistance of the endodontically treated teeth, in comparison with conventional composite resins. This research received no external funding. Considering that this systematic review was only carried out on in vitro papers, registration was not performed. Furthermore, there were no identified clinical studies assessing core build-up materials; therefore, more well-designed research on these materials is needed.


BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. e023223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Berlanga-Macías ◽  
Diana P. Pozuelo-Carrascosa ◽  
Celia Álvarez-Bueno ◽  
Jose Alberto Martínez-Hortelano ◽  
Miriam Garrido-Miguel ◽  
...  

IntroductionBreast feeding has been considered important due to its short-term and long-term benefits on infant and maternal health. Regarding the long-term benefits, the influence of exclusive breastfeeding on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) during childhood and adolescence has been studied, although with controversial conclusions. This study protocol aims to provide a clear and standardised procedure for systematically reviewing the relationship between breast feeding, in terms of duration and exclusivity, and CRF in children and adolescents.Methods and analysisThis systematic review and meta-analysis protocol is reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols. A literature search will be conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library. Observational studies regarding the association between breast feeding and CRF in children and adolescents written in English or Spanish will be included. A Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross Sectional Studies and The Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale for longitudinal studies will be used for quality assessment of included studies. Standardised mean differences of CRF by exclusive breastfeeding categories will be calculated as the primary outcome. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression will be performed based on the sources of heterogeneity.Ethics and disseminationThis evidence-based systematic review will summarise the relevant information on the association of exclusive breast feeding and CRF in children and adolescents. The results will be disseminated by publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Given that the data used for this systematic review will be exclusively extracted from published studies, ethical approval will not be required.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42018082642.


2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 325-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thais Marques Simek Vega Gonçalves ◽  
Sergio Bortolini ◽  
Matteo Martinolli ◽  
Bruna Fernandes Moreira Alfenas ◽  
Daiane Cristina Peruzzo ◽  
...  

<p>Lack of standard criteria in the outcome assessment makes it difficult to draw conclusions on the clinical performance of short implants and, under these circumstances, determine the reasons for implant failure. This study evaluated, through a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis, the essential parameters required to assess the long-term clinical performance of short and extra-short implants. Electronic databases (Pubmed-MEDLINE, Cochrane Library Database, Embase, and Lilacs) were searched by two independent reviewers, without language limitation, to identify eligible papers. References from the selected articles were also reviewed. The review included clinical trials involving short dental implants placed in humans, published between January 2000 and March 2014, which described the parameters applied for outcome's measurements and provided data on survival rates. Thirteen methodologically acceptable studies were selected and 24 parameters were identified. The most frequent parameters assessed were the marginal bone loss and the cumulative implant survival rate, followed by implant failure rate and biological complications such as bleeding on probing and probing pocket depths. Only cumulative implant survival rate data allows meta-analysis revealing a positive effect size (from 0.052 (fixed) to 0.042 (random)), which means that short implant appears to be a successful treatment option. Mechanical complications and crown-to-implant (C/I) ratio measurement were also commonly described, however, considering the available evidence; no strong conclusions could be drawn since different methods were used to assess each parameter. By means of this literature review, a standard evaluation scheme is proposed, being helpful to regiment further investigations and comparisons on future studies.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-39
Author(s):  
Shan Shan Qiu ◽  
Marta Roque ◽  
Yi-Chieh Chen

Background: The objective of this study is to analyze the efficacy of local bupivacaine irrigation after augmentation mammoplasty for the control of postoperative pain. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted including all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the irrigation of bupivacaine (±ketorolac) versus normal saline or no irrigation for pain control after breast augmentation. The primary outcome was postoperative pain measured by visual analog scale. The study protocol was established a priori according to the recommendations of the Cochrane Collaboration. A bibliographical search was conducted in September 2015 in the following Cochrane Library databases: CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Scielo. The strategy used for the search was ((augmentation AND (“mammoplasty”[MeSH Terms] OR “mammoplasty”)) OR ((“breast”[MeSH Terms] OR “breast”) AND augmentation)) AND ((“pain, postoperative”[MeSH Terms])). Results: Four RCTs with a total of 264 participants were included. Two trials compared bupivacaine alone versus placebo (normal saline or no irrigation) and 3 trials compared bupivacaine plus ketorolac versus placebo. The combined irrigation of bupivacaine and ketorolac showed a clinically significant reduction of pain in the first postoperative hour and on postoperative day 5. The irrigation with bupivacaine compared with placebo significantly reduced pain assessed on postoperative day 4. Conclusion: The irrigation of bupivacaine with or without ketorolac was associated with a reduction of postoperative pain compared with control groups for the first 5 postoperative days. Due to the few number of trials included, these results should be correlated further clinically.


Author(s):  
Iramar Nascimento ◽  
Guilherme Dienstmann ◽  
Matheus de Souza ◽  
Raquel Fleig ◽  
Carla Hoffmann ◽  
...  

Objective Does the use of metformin have an influence on the outcomes of preeclampsia (PE)? Sources of Data The descriptors pregnancy, metformin, treatment, and preeclampsia associated with the Boolean operators AND and OR were found in the MEDLINE, LILACS, Embase and Cochrane databases. A flowchart with exclusion criteria and inclusion strategy using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol, and eligibility criteria was used. Data were extracted regarding the type of study, the applied dosage, treatment time, segment, bias risks, and the Patient, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome (PICO) strategy to identify the quality of the study. Selection of Studies Total number of journals in the initial search (n = 824); exclusions from repeated articles on different search engines (n = 253); exclusions after reading the titles, when the title had no correlations with the proposed theme (n = 164); exclusions due to incompatibility with the criteria established in the methodological analysis (n = 185), exclusion of articles with lower correlation with the objective of the present study (n = 187); and final bibliographic selection (n = 35). Data Collection At first, a systematic review of the literature was performed. Subsequently, from the main selection, randomized and non-randomized trials with metformin that presented their results in absolute and relative numbers of PE outcomes were selected. The variables were treated statistically in the meta-analysis with the Review Manager software (RevMan), version 5.3. Copenhagen: Nordic Cochrane Centre, The Cochrane Collaboration. Denmark in the Hovedistaden region. Synthesis of Data The study showed that metmorfin presented greater preventive effects for pregnancy-induced hypertension and was less effective for PE. Conclusion Metformin may gain place in preventive treatments for PE, once the dosages, the gestational age, and treatment time are particularly evaluated. A methodological strategy with an improved perspective of innovative and/or carefully progressive dosages during pregnancy to avoid side effects and the possibility of maternal-fetal risks is suggested.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengxian Yang ◽  
Ge Li ◽  
Shenzhong Jiang ◽  
Xinjie Bao ◽  
Renzhi Wang

Abstract Biochemical remission after transsphenoidal surgery is still unsatisfied in acromegaly patients with macroadenomas, especially with invasive macroadenomas. Concerning the impact of preoperative somatostatin analogues (SSAs) on surgical outcomes, previous studies with limited cases reported conflicting results. To assess current evidence of preoperative medical treatment, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative studies. A literature search was conducted in Pubmed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Five randomized controlled trials (RCT) and seven non-RCT comparative studies were included. These studies mainly focused on pituitary macroadenomas though a small number of microadenoma cases were included. For safety, preoperative SSAs were not associated with elevated risks of postoperative complications. With respect to efficacy, the short-term cure rate was improved by preoperative SSAs, but the long-term cure rate showed no significant improvement. For invasive macroadenomas, the short-term cure rate was also improved, but the long-term results were not evaluable in clinical practice because adjuvant therapy was generally required. In conclusion, preoperative SSAs are safe in patients with acromegaly, and the favorable impact on surgical results is restricted to the short-term cure rate in macroadenomas and invasive macroadenomas. Further well-designed RCTs to examine long-term results are awaited to update the finding of this meta-analysis.


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