Vertebral collapse is one of the most common fractures associated with osteoporosis. The subsequent back pain is severe and often requires medications, bed rest and hospitalization to control pain and improve mobilization. The purpose of this systematic review was to assess the effects of calcitonin versus placebo for the treatment of acute pain in patients sustaining stable, recent, osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. MEDLINE (1966-2003), EMBASE (1980-2003), Cochrane Controlled Trial Registry (2003, volume 3), other databases, and conference proceedings were searched for relevant research. Primary study authors and the pharmaceutical manufacturer were contacted, and bibliographies of relevant papers were hand-searched. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials comparing calcitonin versus placebo for the acute pain of recent osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures were included. Two reviewers extracted data, performed numeric calculations and extrapolated graphical data independently. The combined results from five randomized controlled trials, involving 246 patients, determined that calcitonin significantly reduced the severity of pain using a visual analogue scale following diagnosis. Pain at rest was reduced as early as 1 week into treatment (weighted mean difference [WMD] =3.08; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.64, 3.52) and this effect continued weekly to 4 weeks (WMD =4.03; 95% CI: 3.70, 4.35). A similar pattern was seen for pain scores associated with sitting, standing, and walking. Side effects were gastrointestinal, minor and often self-limited. Calcitonin appears to be effective in the management of acute pain associated with acute osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures by shortening time to mobilization.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease, which is characterised by reversible airflow obstruction in response to a variety of stimuli. Exacerbations in response to airway irritants are part of the natural history of asthma, but often they also represent a failure in chronic treatment. Presentations to emergency departments and other acute care settings are common and frequently lead to hospitalisation and other complications. After treatment, however, most patients are discharged to the care of their primary care physician for further management. This review highlights the role of systemic and inhaled corticosteroids as mainstays of treatment in the acute and sub-acute phase of an exacerbation. These agents form the basis of most current clinical practice guidelines, yet their use is not universal. We will review the evidence for the use of these agents that arises from the Cochrane Collaboration of Systematic Reviews contained in the Cochrane Library.

This article reflects the proceedings of a workshop session, Postgraduate Education and Knowledge Translation, at the 2007 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference on knowledge translation (KT) in emergency medicine (EM). The objective was to develop a research strategy that incorporates KT into EM graduate medical education (GME). To bridge the gap between the best evidence and optimal patient care, Pathman et al. suggested a multistage model for moving from evidence to action. Using this theoretical knowledge-to-action framework, the KT consensus conference group focused on four key components: acceptance, application, ability, and remembering to act on the existing evidence. The possibility that basic familiarity, along with the pipeline by Pathman et al., may improve KT uptake may be an initial starting point for research on GME and KT. Current residents are limited by faculty GME role models to demonstrate bedside KT principles. The rapid uptake of KT theory will depend on developing KT champions locally and internationally for resident physicians to emulate. The consensus participants combined published evidence with expert opinion to outline recommendations for identifying the barriers to KT by asking four specific questions: 1) What are the barriers that influence a resident's ability to act on valid health care evidence? 2) How do we break down these barriers? 3) How do we incorporate this into residency training? 4) How do we monitor the longevity of this intervention? Research in the fields of GME and KT is currently limited. GME educators assume that if we teach residents, they will learn and apply what they have been taught. This is a bold assumption with very little supporting evidence. This article is not an attempt to provide a complete overview of KT and GME, but, instead, aims to create a starting point for future work and discussions in the realm of KT and GM. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2007; 14:1008-1014 ª 2007 by the Society for Academic Emergency MedicineKeywords: graduate medical education, residents, emergency medicine, knowledge translation, core competency T he task of theme IIIa of this consensus conference on knowledge translation (KT) was to develop a research framework describing how medical education strategies can promote evidence implementation by emergency medicine (EM) resident physicians.KT skills should be appreciated and utilized by medical students, residents, and postgraduate physicians. Yet, each of these groups has a unique baseline skill set and appreciation for the capacity of KT to enhance EM clinical practice. Accordingly, KT education will need to be

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