1.
The Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on Pelvic Radiation Induced Gastrointestinal Complications (Rectal Bleeding, Diarrhea, and Pain): A Meta-Analysis
Yuan JH, Song LM, Liu Y, Li MW, Lin Q, Wang R, Zhang CS, Dong J
Front Oncol. 2020;10:390
Abstract
Background: Radiotherapy is a routine treatment for pelvic cancer patients. While it had been proven effective, gastrointestinal side effects remain a concern, impairing the quality of life. A few studies focused on the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment to alleviate radiation-induced gastrointestinal complications. This meta-analysis aimed to critically review and summarize existing literature, assessing the effectiveness of HBO therapy for the treatment of radiation-induced gastrointestinal side effects. Methods: Medical literature search was performed with PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE up to March 14, 2019. Literatures about HBO treatment upon patients undergoing pelvic cancer (endometrial, cervix, rectum, or prostate cancers) radiotherapy were collected, and the effects of HBO treatment on radiotherapy-induced gastrointestinal complications were evaluated. A random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled effect size. Subgroup analyses were performed to search for sources of heterogeneity. Publication bias was detected with Funnel plots and Egger's test. Results: Three different radiotherapy-related gastrointestinal complications, including rectal bleeding, diarrhea, and pain, were analyzed after screening. It was revealed that the improvement rates were considerable in rectal bleeding (0.81, 95% CI: 0.74-0.89) and diarrhea (0.75, 95% CI: 0.61-0.90) and slightly in pain (0.58, 95% CI: 0.38-0.79). Subgroup analysis revealed factors that significantly influenced the heterogeneity of rectal bleeding, diarrhea, and pain (evaluation criteria, follow-up time, and scoring system, respectively). No significant publication bias was detected. Conclusion: HBO treatment might have the potential to alleviate radiotherapy-related gastrointestinal complications, including rectal bleeding, diarrhea, and pain, but more data are needed for further conclusions. Other symptoms were not further analyzed, as the number of studies was insufficient. More large-scale and prospective studies are needed for better evaluation of HBO's therapeutic values.
2.
Efficacy and safety of autologous blood products compared with corticosteroid injections in the treatment of lateral epicondylitis, a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Qian X, Lin Q, Wei K, Hu B, Jing P, Wang J
Pm & R : the Journal of Injury, Function, and Rehabilitation. 2016;8((8):):780-91
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy and safety between autologous blood products (ABPs) and corticosteroid injections (CSIs) in the treatment of lateral epicondylitis (LE). TYPE Meta-analysis. LITERATURE SURVEY We systematically searched the EMBASE, PubMed, the Cochrane Library and Web of Science to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing ABPs versus CSIs for the treatment of LE without language and publication date restriction through April 2015. METHODOLOGY Two investigators independently included and assessed the quality of each eligible study according to the method recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration. Available data about the main outcomes were extracted from each study and heterogeneity was assessed using the Q statistic and the inconsistency index (I2). We also evaluated the publication bias and conducted a subgroup analysis. The Review Manager 5.2 software was used for data syntheses and analyses, the standardized mean difference (SMD) or mean difference (MD) were estimated by using random effects models with 95% confidence interval (CI). To investigate the efficacy among different trial durations, the follow-up times were therefore divided into short (2-4 weeks), intermediate (6-24 weeks) and long term (≥ 24 weeks). SYNTHESIS Ten RCTs (n = 509) were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled analysis showed that CSIs were more effective than ABPs on pain relief (SMD = 0.88; 95% CI = 0.31to1.46%; P = .003) in the short term. However, in the intermediate term, ABPs exhibited a better therapeutic effect for pain relief (SMD = -0.38; 95% CI = -0.70 to -0.07%; P = .02), function (SMD = -0.60; 95% CI = -1.13 to -0.08%; P = .03), DASH (MD = -11.04; 95% CI = -21.72 to -0.36%; P = .04), and Nirschl stage (MD = -0.81; 95% CI = -1.11 to -0.51%; P < .0001). In the long term, ABPs were superior to CSIs for pain relief (SMD = -0.94; 95% CI = -1.32 to -0.57%; P < .0001) and Nirschl stage (MD = -1.04; 95% CI = -1.66 to -0.42%; P = .001). Moreover, for grip strength recovery, there was no significant difference between the two therapies (p > .05). CONCLUSIONS There was limited evidence supporting the conclusion that CSIs were superior to ABPs for pain relief in the short term; however, this result was reversed in the intermediate and long term. ABPs seemed to be more effective at restoring function in the intermediate term. Due to the small sample size and the limited number of high-quality RCTs, more high-quality RCTs with large sample sizes are required to further validate this result.
3.
Hemostatic agents used for nephrostomy tract closure after tubeless PCNL: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Yu C, Xu Z, Long W, Longfei L, Feng Z, Lin Q, Xiongbing Z, Hequn C
Urolithiasis. 2014;42((5):):445-53.
Abstract
To evaluate the role of hemostatic agents used for nephrostomy tract closure after tubeless percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). A systematic review of Pubmed, Embase and Cochrane was performed. All studies that compared hemostatic agents with common methods (silk stitch or pressure dressing) were included. The analyzed outcomes were hospital stay, operative time, blood loss, transfusion rate, fever rate, and complication rate. A total of eight articles including six RCTs met our criteria. Hemostatic agents showed short hospital stay (MD -4.54, 95 % CI -6.78 to -2.36, p < 0.0001). There was no difference between hemostatic agents and common methods on operative time (MD 2.00, 95 % CI -17.32 to 21.33, p = 0.84), blood loss (MD -0.19, 95 % CI -0.41 to 0.03, p = 0.08), transfusion rate (OR 1.42, 95 % CI 0.34-5.96, p = 0.63), fever rate (OR 1.02, 95 % CI 0.33-3.12, p = 0.97) and complication rate (OR 1.02, 95 % CI 0.33-3.12, p = 0.97). Eight studies including six RCTs showed that use of hemostatic agents was safe. Hemostatic agents showed short hospital stay. There were no difference between hemostatic agents and common methods on blood loss, transfusion rate, fever rate, and complication rate.