This month's Eyes on Evidence includes:
Surgery versus medical therapy in ulcerative colitis
A retrospective
cohort study using US data found that elective colectomy was associated with
better survival than long-term medical therapy in people with advanced
ulcerative colitis, in particular in people aged 50 years or older.
Self-monitoring for people on vitamin K anatagonist anticoagulant therapy
A meta-analysis found that for
people receiving long-term vitamin K antagonist therapy, self-monitoring of
anticoagulation status with point-of-care devices was at least as safe as
monitoring by healthcare professionals.
Shared decision-making: antibiotic use for acute respiratory infections
A Cochrane review found moderate quality
evidence that interventions to facilitate shared decision-making reduced
antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections in primary care in the
short term.
Previous pregnancies in young women having an abortion
A retrospective cohort study of data
from England and Wales found that nearly 1 in 4 women aged less than 20 years
who underwent an abortion had already had at least 1 previous birth or abortion.
Post-abortion contraceptive counselling should take a ‘woman-centred’ approach
that focuses on women’s contraceptive preferences.
Mental health of carers after bereavement
A case–control study in Northern Ireland found that
people who had cared for someone with a long-term condition who died
subsequently had poor mental health after bereavement, but mental health was
similarly poor in carers who had not been bereaved.
Evidence summaries from NICE's Medicines and Prescribing Programme
NICE has recently published summaries on:
- Chronic wounds: advanced wound dressings and antimicrobial dressings
- Moderate to severe acute post-operative pain: sufentanil sublingual tablet
system
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and young people:
guanfacine prolonged-release
- Adverse events associated with off-label medicine use in adults
- Myocardial infarction: risks and benefits of extended dual antiplatelet
therapy