Aspiration and tube drainage have no significant difference in treating patients with first episode of PSP regarding recurrence. Aspiration reduced hospitalization days when compared with tube drainage. Thoracotomy with mechanical pleurodesis and VATS with or without pleurodesis are not significantly different in preventing recurrence in patients with recurrent or persistent PSP. VATS alone reduced complications compared with others treatments except for thoracotomy with abrasion.
Since warning signs and signs of severe dengue are defined differently between studies, we conducted a systematic review on how researchers defined these signs. We conducted an electronic search in Scopus to identify relevant articles, using key words including dengue, "warning signs," "severe dengue," and "classification." A total of 491 articles were identified through this search strategy and were subsequently screened by 2 independent reviewers for definitions of any of the warning or severe signs in the 2009 WHO dengue classification. We included all original articles published in English after 2009, classifying dengue by the 2009 WHO classification or providing the additional definition or criterion of warning signs and severity (besides the information of 2009 WHO). Analysis of the extracted data from 44 articles showed wide variations among definitions and cutoff values used by physicians to classify patients diagnosed with dengue infection. The establishment of clear definitions for warning signs and severity is essential to prevent unnecessary hospitalization and harmonizing the interpretation and comparability of epidemiological studies dedicated to dengue infection.
Background
Systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) are commonly conducted to evaluate and summarize medical literature. This is especially useful in assessing in vitro studies for consistency. Our study aims to systematically review all available quality assessment (QA) tools employed on in vitro SRs/MAs.
Method
A search on four databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Virtual Health Library and Web of Science, was conducted from 2006 to 2020. The available SRs/MAs of in vitro studies were evaluated. DARE tool was applied to assess the risk of bias of included articles. Our protocol was developed and uploaded to ResearchGate in June 2016.
Results
Our findings reported an increasing trend in publication of in vitro SRs/MAs from 2007 to 2020. Among the 244 included SRs/MAs, 126 articles (51.6%) had conducted the QA procedure. Overall, 51 QA tools were identified; 26 of them (51%) were developed by the authors specifically, whereas 25 (49%) were pre-constructed tools. SRs/MAs in dentistry frequently had their own QA tool developed by the authors, while SRs/MAs in other topics applied various QA tools. Many pre-structured tools in these in vitro SRs/MAs were modified from QA tools of in vivo or clinical trials, therefore, they had various criteria.
Conclusion
Many different QA tools currently exist in the literature; however, none cover all critical aspects of in vitro SRs/MAs. There is a need for a comprehensive guideline to ensure the quality of SR/MA due to their precise nature.
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