Purpose: To determine if deliberate hypotension decreases blood loss and transfusion requirements in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery, a systematic review of all randomized trials addressing this issue was undertaken.Methods: Electronic databases, citations lists and review articles were searched for potential articles. Relevant articles met the following inclusion criteria: English language, humans undergoing orthopedic surgery, deliberate hypotension used by any method, intraoperative blood loss measured as an outcome, and the trial methodology being randomized and controlled. Four outcomes were analyzed, including estimated blood loss, blood transfused, surgery duration, and quality of the surgical field. For all analyses, the random-effects model was used.Results: Seventeen articles met the inclusion criteria. The surgeries studied included total hip arthroplasty (seven), orthognathic surgery (eight), total knee arthroplasty (one) and spinal fusion (one). A total of 636 patients were randomized across all studies. For blood loss, the overall weighted mean difference favoured treatment, with a savings of about 287 mL of blood [95% confidence interval (CI): -447, -127]. The mean differences also showed a statistically significant benefit for deliberate hypotension in reducing transfusion requirements (-667 mL of blood transfused; 95% CI: -963, -370). Deliberate hypotension was not shown to reduce the duration of surgery (-1.9 min of surgery; 95% CI: -7.2, 3.5) or improve surgical conditions (surgical field quality rating -0.5; 95% CI: -1.1, 0.2). Conclusion:This review provides some support for the use of deliberate hypotension in reducing blood loss and transfusion requirements in orthopedic surgery, but these results are tempered by the small sample sizes and poor methodological quality of published studies.

Most individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) fail to achieve remission despite standard treatments. As a result, we examined the efficacy and tolerability of second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) as (a) augmentation or (b) monotherapy for GAD. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, controlled trials databases, and the abstracts of scientific meetings for all trials of GAD treatment with SGAs in adults. Randomized, double-blind, parallel-group trials examining SGA augmentation and monotherapy were meta-analyzed. Five augmentation studies containing 912 adults with refractory GAD indicated that SGA augmentation was not more likely to produce clinical response or remission than placebo and was associated with an increased risk of all-cause discontinuation (relative risk [RR] = 1.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-1.96). There was no difference in the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale on change from baseline or weight gain between groups. Four SGA monotherapy studies containing 1383 patients with GAD indicated that treatment with 150 mg of quetiapine was more likely to lead to a clinical response (RR = 1.31; 95% CI, 1.20-1.44), remission (RR = 1.44; 95% CI, 1.23-1.68), and a greater decrease in the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale score (-3.66; 95% CI, -5.13 to -2.19) than placebo. However, an increased risk of all-cause discontinuation (RR = 1.30; 95% CI, 1.09-1.54) and weight gain (2.2 lb; 95% CI, 1.16-3.24) was observed. Existing data suggest that SGAs are not superior to placebo as augmentation for refractory GAD. Quetiapine monotherapy is more efficacious than placebo for uncomplicated GAD, but issues with adverse effects and tolerability may limit its use.