Background. Heparin, used clinically as an anticoagulant, also has anti-inflammatory properties. The purpose of this systematic review was to provide a comprehensive review regarding the efficacy and safety of heparin and its derivatives as anti-inflammatory agents. Methods. We searched the following databases up to March 2012: Pub Med, Scopus, Web of Science, Ovid, Elsevier, and Google Scholar...

Background Previous meta-analyses have compared bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) with hamstring tendon (HT) autografts for primary anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Purpose To conduct a systematic review of overlapping meta-analyses comparing BPTB with HT autografts for ACLR to determine which meta-analyses provide the best available evidence. Study Design Systematic review;...

BACKGROUND There is a great need for high quality clinical research for children. The European Pediatric Regulation aimed to improve the quality of clinical trials in order to increase the availability of treatments for children. The main purpose of this study was to assess the evolution of both the number and the quality of pediatric trial protocols that were submitted to a French Institutiona...

INTRODUCTION The Consolidated Standards for Reporting Trials (CONSORT) were published to standardize reporting and improve the quality of clinical trials. The objective of this study is to assess CONSORT adherence in randomized clinical trials (RCT) of disease specific clinical decision support (CDS). METHODS A systematic search was conducted of the Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases. RC...

BACKGROUND Probiotics are microorganisms, mainly bacteria, which benefit the host's health. Many studies support the role of probiotics as a contributor to gastrointestinal health, and nowadays many authors are trying to prove its influence in oral health maintenance. OBJECTIVES To review the published literature with the purpose of knowing the importance of using probiotics as a preventive a...

PURPOSE This study was designed to analyze the characteristics and the quality of reporting of randomized, controlled trials published during the last ten years on fecal incontinence. METHODS An electronic search for all randomized, controlled trials on fecal incontinence was undertaken by using the MEDLINE database via PubMed. The data collected were divided into general data, characteristic...

INTRODUCTION Previous meta-analyses of magnesium sulphate infusion in the treatment of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) have become outdated due to recently published clinical trials. Our aim was thus to perform an up-to-date systemic review and meta-analysis of published data on the use of magnesium sulphate infusion in aneurysmal SAH patients. METHODS A systemic review and meta-anal...

PURPOSE Multiple meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials, the highest available level of evidence, have been conducted to determine whether double-row (DR) or single-row (SR) rotator cuff repair (RCR) provides superior clinical outcomes and structural healing; however, results are discordant. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of meta-analyses comparing SR and DR R...

The purpose of this study is to systematically review clinical trials on pharmacological therapies for rare gynecological cancers and analyze their characteristics. PRISMA guidelines systematic reviews were followed two databases searched (WHO´s International Clinical Trials Registry Platform clinicaltrials.gov). Jadad score was used assess the methodological quality … Continued

BACKGROUND Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is very common in people with diabetes. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) therapy has been developed for DPN empirically over the years. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the efficacy and safety of CHMs for patients suffering from DPN. METHODS We performed a meta-analysis of randomized-controlled clinical trials (RCTs...