Objectives To evaluate the effect of metrinidazole treatment after conventional hemorrhoidectomy pain in patients with third and fourth degree hemorrhoids. Methods We searched the Cochrane Library (Issue 1 2009), PubMed (1966 to March 2009), EMbase (1974 to March 2009), SCI (1974 to March 2009), CBM (1978 to March 2009), CNKI (1994 to March 2009), and VIP (1989 to March 2009) to identify randomized controlled trials or quasi- randomize controlled trials of metronidazole versus placebo for treating post hemorrhoidectomy pain. We evaluated the quality of the included studies by using the Handbook 4.2.6 recommend standards and analyzed data using the Cochrane Collaboration’s RevMan 4.2.10. Results We included seven randomized controlled trials or quais-randomized controlled trials (n=553). Meta-analyses showed that there were statistical differences between metronidazole and placebo in pain after hemorrhoidectomy and the use of an additional dose of analgesia. Conclusions The current evidence shows that metronidazole relieves the pain after conventional hemorrhoidectomy and reduces the additional used of analgesics. Further high quality, large sample randomized controlled trials should be carried out.
Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of MR imaging for anterior cruciate ligament. Methods We searched PubMed, EMBASE, CBM, CSJD and CJFD to find all diagnostic tests about MR imaging in anterior cruciate ligament. QUADAS items were used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. We used Meta-disc software for data collection, and sensitivity, specificity and SROC curves were calculated to assess the diagnostic value of individual diagnostic tests. Results Twenty-nine studies met the eligibility criteria and were included. Compared with arthroscope, the summary values of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio and SROC curve of MR imaging were 93%, 93%, 9.85, 126.39, and 0.971 4, respectively. Conclusion MR imaging can be regarded as an effective and feasible method for ACL tears diagnosis and screening clinically, based on the results of this systematic review.
Objective Investigate the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) in teaching of evidence-based medicine for undergraduates.Methods Participating students from four of eight classes with major of clinical medicine in Grade 2006 were assigned to the lecture-lased learning (LBL) group (50 students) and the PBL group (46 students), and each group had two classes. The examination scores, questionnaire, and seminars were used in combination to evaluate the teaching effectiveness. SPSS 11.5 software was used for statistical analyses. Results The baseline characteristics were balanced between the two groups because no difference was found in aspects of taking part in literature or information retrieval training, research project, undergraduate starting an undertaking plan and social survey, as well as getting known of evidence-based medicine, clinical epidemiology and PBL. The evaluation results of teaching effectiveness showed that, a) About the examination score, there was a significant difference between the two groups (Plt;0.05); the score of the PBL group was higher than that of the LBL group in aspects of fundamental knowledge, issuing question, retrieving evidence, evaluating evidence, applying evidence and total score; and b) About the attitude towards LML, there was a significant difference between the two groups about whether the LBL was beneficial or not to improve positive study, study interest, participation willingness, aggregate analysis ability, speech ability, self-study ability, information acquisition ability, information analyses and utilization ability, problem analyses and solving ability, combination of theory and clinic, communication between teachers and students, team cooperation and so on; but there was no significant difference between the two groups (Pgt;0.05) in aspects of improving learning efficiency, better understanding theory leader from class, improving writing ability and practicing ability; 97.83% of the students in the PBL group thought that PBL was suitable for themselves which should be introduced into other course teaching; 48.00% of the students in the LBL group thought that the current LBL teaching mode was not suitable for undergraduate, while 28.00% of the students in the LBL group thought that the current teaching mode should get reformed. Conclusion The PBL teaching mode is beneficial for undergraduates to better training clinical thinking, improve the ability of problem construction, aggregate analyses, literature retrieval, language express and exploratory innovation, and fully improve the quality of evidence-based medicine teaching. The PBL teaching method is suitable for teaching of evidence-based medicine for undergraduate medical students.
Objective To systematically evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety of capecitabine plus docetaxel in the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer where anthracycline has failed as a treatment. Methods We electronically searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library (2008, issue 4), and CBM to Sept. 2008. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs about capecitabine plus docetaxel combination therapy in anthracycline-pretreated patients with metastatic breast cancer were identified. Study selection and analyses were undertaken according to the Cochrane Handbook, and RevMan 5.0 was applied for statistical analyses. The following was studied: total survival time, the development time of disease, reaction rate, the mid-survival time, adverse events and quality of life. Results Three RCTs involving 672 patients with metastatic breast cancer were included. The results of meta-analyses showed that the overall survival (MD=3.00, 95%CI 1.64 to 4.36), disease time to progression (MD=1.85, 95%CI 1.15 to 2.55), and the response rate (RR=1.29, 95%CI 1.09 to 1.52) were superior in the combination arm to the docetaxel alone arm. Conclusion The current evidence available shows that the combination of capecitabine and docetaxel may significantly improve the short-term efficacy comparing with docetaxel alone. However, adverse events and long-term efficacy are not clear; more high-quality RCTs should be conducted.
Objective To assess the clinical effectiveness of vacuum-formed versus Hawley retainers in the period of retention. Methods PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and WanFang Data were searched from the date of their establishment to December 31, 2011, to collect the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about the clinical effectiveness of vacuum-formed versus Hawley retainers. The quality of the included studies was evaluated by two reviewers independently, and meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.1.4 software. Results Six RCTs including 935 patients were identified. The results of meta-analyses showed significantly fewer changes in irregularity of the maxillary incisors (MD=0.13, 95%CI 0.04 to 0.21) and mandibular incisors (MD=0.29, 95%CI 0.24 to 0.33) in the vacuum-formed group than in the Hawley group. There were no significant differences between the two groups in maxillary intercanine width (MD=?–0.01, 95%CI –0.03 to 0.01), mandibular intercanine width (MD=0.04, 95%CI –0.02 to 0.10), maxillary intermolar width (MD=?–0.01, 95%CI –0.03 to 0.00) and mandibular intermolar width (MD=?–0.02, 95%CI –0.08 to 0.04). The results of qualitative analysis were consistent with the results of meta-analysis and there were no significant differences in overjet and overbite. Conclusion Vacuum-formed retainers are more effective than Hawley retainers at maintaining position of incisors in the period of retention. In other aspects, they are similar. In consideration of the factors such as the limited quality and incomplete measure index of primary studies, RCTs of higher methodological quality are needed.
Objective To assess the effectiveness and safety of laryngeal mask airway (LMA) and endotracheal tube (ETT) for airway management in pediatric general anesthesia. Methods Randomized controlled trials were collected through electronic searches of the PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase, CBM, WanFang Data, VIP, CNKI from the date of establishment to November 2010. All the related data that matched the standards were abstracted by two reviewers independently. The quality of the included trials was evaluated according to the Cochrane Handbook 5.0. RevMan 5.0 software was used for meta-analysis of the complications, success of insertion on the first attempt and hemodynamic changes. Results A total of 39 trials involving 2 612 patients were included. The results of meta-analyses showed that LMA was superior to ETT in terms of less cough (RR=0.21, 95%CI 0.15 to 0.28, Plt;0.000 01), laryngospasm or bronchospasm (RR=0.37, 95%CI 0.18 to 0.77, P=0.008) and agitation (RR=0.14, 95%CI 0.09 to 0.22, Plt;0.000 01) during emergency. The incidence of postoperative sore throat (RR=0.32, 95%CI 0.19 to 0.55, Plt;0.000 1), hoarse voice (RR=0.09, 95%CI 0.03 to 0.27, Plt;0.000 1), nausea and vomiting (RR=0.46, 95%CI 0.26 to 0.80, P=0.006) was significantly lower in the LMA group. The hemodynamic changes during insertion and extraction of LMA were more stable than ETT, such as the heart rate changes in insertion, extraction and post-extraction period (SMD= –1.18, 95%CI –1.59 to –0.77, Plt;0.000 01; SMD= –1.29 95%CI –1.72 to –0.86, Plt;0.000 01; and SMD= –1.51 95%CI –2.15 to –0.87, Plt;0.000 01, respectively) and the MAP changes in insertion, extraction and post-extraction period (SMD= –1.21, 95%CI –1.39 to –1.02, Plt;0.000 01; SMD= –1.31, 95%CI –1.77 to –0.85, Plt;0.000 01; and SMD= –0.85, 95%CI –1.24 to –0.46, Plt;0.000 1, respectively); but no significant differences in postoperative regurgitation and aspiration (RR=3.00, 95%CI 0.62 to 14.61, P=0.17) and successful insertion on the first attempt (RR=0.99, 95%CI 0.94 to 1.05, P=0.84) were found between the LMA and ETT groups. Conclusion Current evidence indicates that the laryngeal mask airway is superior to endotracheal tube in terms of fewer complications during emergency and after operation as well as stable hemodynamic changes. So, it is a selective, safe and effective airway management for children.
Objective To provide a reference for the best evidence-based medicine (EBM) education modelby retrospective analysis and summary the EBM education model of the EBM center of Lanzhou University for medicalpostgraduates. Methods To utilize students’ spare time we changed the traditional teaching method, and instead used problem based learning and academic discussions to teach postgraduates how to design and apply research. Results Sixtytwo postgraduates were trained and completed 73 research papers and registered 33 Cochrane systematic reviews. Twentythree papers were published in foreign journals (SCI) as first authors, 34 papers were published in domestic journals. Five students received awards in the academic conference of Lanzhou University. Conclusion Medical students will benefit from taking part in EBM research. This education model will help them not only understand the methods of clinical research and EBM and improve the quality of their research and their cooperative skills, but also master related clinical knowledge.
Objective To evaluate the effect of clinical pathway (CP) teaching methods versus traditional methods in nursing clinical teaching. Methods The following electronic databases as PubMed, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, CBM and CNKI were retrieved on computer from their establishment to April 2011 to search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of comparing CP with traditional methods in nursing clinical teaching. The methodological quality of the included RCTs was assessed by two reviewers independently according to the scale of criteria for methodological quality developed by Smits PB, and the meta-analysis was conducted by using the Cochrane Collaboration’s RevMan5.1 software. Results A total of 12 RCTs involving 1 269 participants were included, and nine of them were of high quality. The meta-analyses showed that compared with the traditional teaching method, the CP teaching tended to be superior (Plt;0.05) in improving nursing students’ objective knowledge, nursing operating skills, professional ability and satisfaction with teaching methods, and in improving patients’ satisfaction as well. Conclusion The clinical pathway teaching method is a scientific teaching model in nursing clinical teaching; it standardizes the teaching procedure, promotes students’ active learning and further enhances the teaching effect. But it is necessary to unify the method of assessment with more researches. In addition, researchers should pay more attention to improving the comprehensive quality of nursing students.
Objective To assess the effects of combining intravenous immunoglobulin for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) by analyzing the randomized controlled trials (RCT). Methods The electronic databases such as PubMed (1966 to Aug. 2010), EMbase (1974 to Aug. 2010), The Cochrane Library (Issue 2, 2010), CNKI (1994 to Aug. 2010), VIP (1989 to Aug. 2010), CBM (1978 to Aug. 2010) and Chinese Medical Association Digital Periodicals (1998 to Aug. 2010) were searched to collect RCTs of intravenous immunoglobulin for the patients with SLE. The methodology quality of the included studies was evaluated in accordance with RCTs quality evaluation standard of the Cochrane Handbook 4.2.6, and meta-analyses were performed by using RevMan 5.0 software. Results Four RCTs involving 154 participants were included. The results of meta-analyses showed that compared with cyclophosphamide pulse therapy, the combining intravenous immunoglobulin markedly reduced the SLE disease activity index (MD= –3.09, 95%CI –4.21 to –1.97), the incidence of infection (OR=0.24, 95%CI 0.11 to 0.54), the proteinuria (MD= –1.09, 95%CI –2.11 to –0.06), and the relapse of SLE (OR=0.07, 95%CI 0.01 to 0.37). But there was no significant difference in elevating of complement between two groups. Conclusion According to the results of meta-analyses, compared with cyclophosphamide pulse therapy, cyclophosphamide combining intravenous immunoglobulin may be more efficient in improving clinical symptoms, decreasing incidence rate of infectious diseases, and reducing relapse for SLE patients.
Objective To assess the affect of problem-based learning (PBL) versus literature based learning(LBL) in clinical medicine students. Methods Computer retrieval was conducted to search for controlled studies comparing PBL with LBL. The quality of included studies was critically evaluated and data was analyzed by using The Cochrane Collaboration’s RevMan 5.0 software. Results Finally 11 articles were included in the review, but most of them were of low quality.There are clinical heterogeneity between different studis which cause descriptive results. The PBL tended to be superior to LBL in the analysis-skill, self-directed learning skill, data-searching skill, and original skill.Conclusion PBL tends to be associated with better learning results among clinical medicine students compared withLBL methods. We need large-scale, randomized controlled trials of higher quality to confirm this.
