BACKGROUND The long acting beta2-agonists, salmeterol and formoterol, have been recommended, by some, as first line treatment of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We reviewed evidence of efficacy and safety when compared with placebo or anticholinergic agents in patients with poorly reversible COPD. METHODS After searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, HealthSTAR, BIOSIS Previews, PASCA...

PURPOSE To compare outcomes of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with hamstring autograft versus soft-tissue allograft by systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS A systematic review of randomized controlled studies comparing hamstring autograft with soft-tissue allograft in ACL reconstruction was performed. Studies were identified by strict inclusion and exclusion criteria....

STUDY OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of a Lactobacillus probiotic single-agent regimen in preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD). DESIGN Meta-analysis of 10 randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled trials. Patients. A total of 1862 pediatric and adult patients who received a Lactobacillus single-agent regimen or placebo for the prevention of AAD. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Th...

The laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is an important approach of treating acute cholecystitis and the timing of performing this given treatment is associated with clinical outcomes. Although several meta-analyses have been done to investigate the optimal timing of implementing this treatment, the conflicting findings from these meta-analyses still confuse decision-making. And thus, we performe...

PURPOSE Because low-quality trials may lead to erroneous conclusions, quality assessments are necessary. Thus, in this study, we scrutinized randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in the Korean Journal of Urology (KJU) to assess their quantity and quality. MATERIALS AND METHODS Upon extracting RCTs from all articles published in the KJU from 1991 to 2010, assessments were made on the b...

BACKGROUND Acyclovir has the potential to shorten the course of chickenpox which may result in reduced costs and morbidity. We conducted a systematic review of randomised controlled trials that evaluated acyclovir for the treatment of chickenpox in otherwise healthy children. METHODS MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched. The reference lists of relevant articles were examine...

INTRODUCTION Kinesiology is a diagnostic, therapeutic complementary therapy utilising subtle change in manual muscle testing results to evaluate the body's energetic balance and select healing modalities. Anecdotal evidence suggests kinesiology is helpful, therefore we wished to critically review the literature. AIMS (1) To ascertain if diagnostic accuracy including inter-examiner reliability...

Numerous meta-analyses have been conducted aiming to compare hyaluronic acid (HA) and placebo in treating knee osteoarthritis (OA). Nevertheless, the conclusions of these meta-analyses are not in consistency. The purpose of the present study was to perform a systematic review of overlapping meta-analyses investigating the efficacy and safety of HA for Knee OA and to provide treatment recommenda...

The clinical effectiveness of vitamin B12 and its active coenzyme form on diabetic neuropathy is uncertain. Therefore, we searched the English- and non-English-language literature on this topic by using MEDLINE (Ovid, PubMed), the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, and related papers. We identified seven randomized controlled trials from June 1954 to July 2004 and reviewed them for the clinic...