BACKGROUND The usefulness of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with opioids for postoperative analgesia is not well defined. METHODS We systematically searched (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, bibliographies, any language, to January 2000) for randomised trials comparing opioid-based PCA with the same opioid given intramuscularly, intravenously, or subcutaneously. Weighted mea...

Neonatal tetanus is a serious but preventable disease of the newborn. The WHO has been coordinating efforts aimed at the elimination of the disease globally by reducing the incidence of NNT to less than one case per 1000 live births in every district of the world. Despite the efforts, the disease is still highly prevalent in Nigeria as the country is among the nations that contribute about 90% ...

Evidence • In 3 systematic reviews (9 to 46 RCTs, 820 to 5401 patients) of non-benzodiazepine muscle relaxants versus placebo, differences were statistically significant1-3: -Pain scores were about 12 points lower on a 100point visual analogue scale at 10 days.1 -There was undefined pain reduction (number needed to treat [NNT] of 4 to 7) at 2 to 7 days; an undefined target for global efficacy (...

OBJECTIVE To quantify efficacy and harm of pharmacological prevention of acute mountain sickness. DATA SOURCES Systematic search (Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, internet, bibliographies, authors) in any language, up to October 1999. STUDY SELECTION Randomised placebo controlled trials. DATA EXTRACTION Dichotomous data on efficacy and harm from 33 trials (523 subjects received 13 diffe...

OBJECTIVE Previous publications demonstrated that the presentation of treatment benefits in terms of relative risk reduction (RRR) rather than in terms of absolute risk reduction (ARR) or number of patients to treat (NNT) might favor the perception of outcome effectiveness. The objective was to perform a cognitive evaluation to assess how the manner in which risks and benefits of screening meth...

A hospital-based case-control study was conducted to further examine the risk factors for neonatal tetanus (NNT) in the North-west Frontier Province of Pakistan. Three control infants were concurrently evaluated for each of 102 consecutively diagnosed NNT cases hospitalized over an 8-week period. Application of clarified butter (ghee) during the first few days of life was shown to be a signific...

Bottom line For healthy adults, the flu shot reduces the influenza rate when the vaccine is well matched (number needed to treat [NNT] of 12 to 37). A poorly matched vaccine has diminished effectiveness. For community-dwelling seniors, the NNT to prevent 1 case of influenza is 40. The flu shot has not been shown to decrease hospitalizations. Evidence that the flu shot decreases mortality is lik...