Evaluating the quality of systematic reviews in the emergency medicine literature.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the scientific quality of systematic reviews published in 5 leading emergency medicine journals. METHODS: MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were electronically searched to identify published systematic reviews. Searches were only conducted in emergency medicine journals during the past 10 years; 4 of the journals were also hand searched. Potential reviews were assessed independently by 2 reviewers for inclusion. Data regarding methods were extracted from each review independently by 2 reviewers. All systematic reviews were retrieved and rated for quality by using the 10 questions from the overview quality assessment questionnaire. RESULTS: Twenty-nine reviews were identified from more than 100 citations. The overall scientific quality of the systematic reviews was low (mean score, 2.7; 95% confidence interval 2.1 to 3.2; maximum possible score, 7.0). Selection and publication biases were rarely addressed in this collection of reviews. For example, the search strategies were only identified in 9 (31%) reviews, whereas independent study selection (6 [21%]) and quality assessment of included studies (9 [31%]) were infrequently performed. Overall, the majority of reviews had extensive flaws, and only 3 (10%) had minimal flaws. CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicate that many of the systematic reviews published in the emergency medicine literature contain major flaws; reviews with poor methodology may limit the validity of reported results. Further efforts should be made to improve the design, reporting, and publication of systematic reviews in emergency medicine.     

Herbal medicine for irritable bowel syndrome: An overview of systematic reviews protocol

Background:Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder characterized by the recurrence of abdominal pain and changes in bowel habits. Owing to the limitations of conventional treatments, patients with IBS are often dissatisfied with the effect of treatment and have a poor quality of life. Herbal medicines (HMs) are frequently used for the treatment of IBS. This protocol was designed through an overview of systematic reviews (SRs), to investigate the safety and efficacy of HMs for treating IBS.Methods:SRs published up to May 2021 will be searched from the following 6 electronic databases: Medline (via PubMed), EMBASE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure database. SRs and/or meta-analyses on the use of HMs for IBS will be included in this overview. The effects of a placebo, no treatment, usual care, or conventional treatment will be compared with those of HMs. Two investigators will independently extract the data and assess the methodological and evidence quality for each main finding. The total clinical effectiveness rate will be measured as the primary outcome.Results:This overview is expected to provide data on the use of HMs for the treatment of IBS based on qualitative and quantitative syntheses of the included SR data.Conclusion:This overview will evaluate and propose the efficacy and safety of HMs for the treatment of IBS.Registration number:DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/NT6WZ (https://osf.io/nt6wz).     

An overview of systematic reviews of complementary and alternative medicine for fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain condition which is difficult to diagnose and to treat. Most individuals suffering from FM use a variety of complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) interventions to treat and manage their symptoms. The aim of this overview was to critically evaluate all systematic reviews of single CAM interventions for the treatment of FM. Five systematic reviews met the inclusion criteria, evaluating the effectiveness of homoeopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, hydrotherapy and massage. The reviews found some evidence of beneficial effects arising from acupuncture, homoeopathy, hydrotherapy and massage, whilst no evidence for therapeutic effects from chiropractic interventions for the treatment of FM symptoms was found. The implications of these findings and future directions for the application of CAM in chronic pain conditions, as well as for CAM research, are discussed.     

Comments on the article about the treatment of peripancreatic infection

We read with great interest the article by Tang et al published in issue 4 of World Journal of Gastroenterology 2010.The results of their study indicate that percutaneous catheter drainage in combination with choledochoscope-guided debridement is a simple,safe and reliable treatment procedure for peripancreatic infections secondary to severe acute pancreatitis.However,there are some points that need to be addressed,including data about the patients in the study and their clinical characteristics,data about ...     

Predicting the number of article citations on the topic of pemphigus vulgaris with the 100 top-cited articles since 2011: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a rare autoimmune blistering disease characterized by intraepithelial and mucocutaneous blister formation and erosion. Numerous articles related to PV have been published. However, which articles have a tremendous influence is still unknown, and factors affecting article citation numbers remain unclear. We aimed to visualize the prominent entities using the top 100 most-cited articles on the topic of PV (T100PV), and investigate whether medical subject headings (i.e., MeSH terms) can be used to predict article citations.Methods:By searching the PubMed Central (PMC) database, the T100PV abstracts since 2011 were downloaded. Citation analysis was performed to compare the dominant entities in article topics, authors, and research institutes using social network analysis (SNA) and Kano diagrams. We examined the MeSH prediction power against article citations using correlation coefficients (CCs).Results:The most cited article (125 times) was authored by Ellebrecht from the University of Pennsylvania in the US. The most productive countries were Germany (28%) and the US (25%). Most articles were published in J Invest Dermatol (16%) and Br J Dermatol (10%). Kasperkiewicz (Germany) and the Normandie University (France) were the most cited authors and research institutes, respectively. The most frequently occurred MeSH terms were administration and dosage, immunology, and metabolism. MeSH terms were evident in the prediction power on the number of article citations (F = 19.77; P < .001).Conclusion:A breakthrough was achieved by developing dashboards to display the T100PV. MeSH terms can be used to predict the T100PV citations. These T100PV visualizations can be applied in future studies.