Internal Medicine
Systematic Review: Are Invasive Procedures Effective for Chronic Pain?
14 Sep, 2018 | 02:28h | UTCAre Invasive Procedures Effective for Chronic Pain? A Systematic Review – Pain Medicine (free)
Commentaries: New study questions effectiveness of invasive procedures for chronic pain – The Reis Group (free) AND Invasive Procedures For Chronic Pain Have Not Been Proven to Work – MedicalResearch.com (free)
Related: Needless procedures: knee arthroscopy is one of the most common but least effective surgeries – The Conversation (free)
Cohort Study: Effect of Mammography Screening on Breast Cancer Mortality
14 Sep, 2018 | 02:25h | UTCCommentaries: Breast cancer screening does not reduce mortality – eCancer News (free) AND Danish study attributes improved treatment, not screening, to decline in breast cancer deaths – Health Imaging (free)
NICE Guideline: Chronic Heart Failure in Adults
14 Sep, 2018 | 02:20h | UTC
Meta-Analysis: Fatal Toxic Effects Associated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors
14 Sep, 2018 | 02:22h | UTCFatal Toxic Effects Associated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis – JAMA Oncology (free for a limited period)
Commentaries: Study Discerns Rare Risks of Fatal Side Effects From Cancer Immunotherapy – AJMC (free) AND Fatal Toxicities Rare With Checkpoint Inhibitors – MedicalResearch.com (free)
Related Guidelines: Management of Immune-Related Adverse Events in Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy: American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline (free) AND Managing toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: consensus recommendations from the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Toxicity Management Working Group (free)
Related Review: New drugs, new toxicities: severe side effects of modern targeted and immunotherapy of cancer and their management – Critical Care (free)
Review: Arterial Hypertension
14 Sep, 2018 | 02:18h | UTCArterial Hypertension: Diagnosis and treatment – Deutsches Ärzteblatt international (free)
Overdiagnosis: Causes and Consequences in Primary Health Care
14 Sep, 2018 | 02:09h | UTCOverdiagnosis: causes and consequences in primary health care – Canadian Family Physician (free) (via @cantaskforce)
Related: Overdiagnosis across medical disciplines: a scoping review – The BMJ Open (free) AND Too much medical care: bad for you, bad for health care systems – STAT News (free) AND Overdiagnosis: what it is and what it isn’t – BMJ Evidence Based Medicine (free) AND Position Paper on Overdiagnosis and Action to be Taken – Wonca (free PDF)
European Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care
14 Sep, 2018 | 02:19h | UTCEuropean Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care – European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (free PDF in several languages) (via @ECDC_TB and @Onisillos)
Meta-Analysis: Restrictive vs. Liberal Transfusion Strategies in Cardiac Surgery
14 Sep, 2018 | 02:07h | UTCRelated study: Outcomes after Restrictive or Liberal Transfusion for Cardiac Surgery (link to abstract)
Study: Factors Associated With Long-term Benzodiazepine Use Among Older Adults
14 Sep, 2018 | 02:04h | UTCFactors Associated With Long-term Benzodiazepine Use Among Older Adults – JAMA Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: 1 in 4 Older Adults Prescribed a Benzodiazepine Goes on to Risky Long-Term Use, Study Finds – Michigan Medicine, via NewsWise (free) AND Long-Term Benzodiazepine Use Common Among Older Adults – Physician’s First Watch (free) AND Factors Predicting Long-term Benzodiazepine Use Identified – Medscape (free registration required) AND Larger Number of Benzodiazepine Pills in Initial Prescription Associated With Long Term Use – MedicalResearch.com (free)
Related: A Quiet Drug Problem Among the Elderly – The New York Times (free) AND Our Other Prescription Drug Problem – New England Journal of Medicine (free) AND Benzodiazepines: our other prescription drug epidemic – STAT (free) AND Deprescribing benzodiazepine receptor agonists – Canadian Family Physician (free)
Randomized Trial: Piperacillin-Tazobactam vs for Patients With E coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae Bloodstream Infection and Ceftriaxone Resistance
14 Sep, 2018 | 02:03h | UTCEffect of Piperacillin-Tazobactam vs Meropenem on 30-Day Mortality for Patients With E coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae Bloodstream Infection and Ceftriaxone Resistance: A Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Video Summary: Effect of Piperacillin-Tazobactam vs Meropenem on Mortality in Gram-Negative Bloodstream Infection – JAMA (free)
Commentaries: Combo antibiotic found inferior for MDR bloodstream infections – CIDRAP (free) AND Drug Combo No Better for Hard-to-Treat Bloodstream Infections – Medscape (free registration required)
“The results do not support the use of Pip/Tazo as 30 d mortality was 12.3% in Pip/Tazo vs 3.7% in Mero arms” (via @CarlosdelRio7 see Tweet)
Opinion – Screening: How Overdiagnosis and Other Harms can Undermine the Benefits
14 Sep, 2018 | 01:59h | UTCScreening: How overdiagnosis and other harms can undermine the benefits – Health News Review (free)
“All screening programs do harm, some do good as well.”
Systematic Review: Antibiotics for Acute Rhinosinusitis in Adults
14 Sep, 2018 | 02:01h | UTCAntibiotics for acute rhinosinusitis in adults – Cochrane Library (free for a limited period)
Summary: Antibiotics for sinus infection of short duration in adults – Cochrane Library (free)
“Considering antibiotic resistance, and the very low incidence of serious complications, we conclude there is no place for antibiotics for people with uncomplicated acute rhinosinusitis.”
Comparisons of Guidelines on Managing ANCA–Associated Vasculitis
14 Sep, 2018 | 02:00h | UTC
Study: Long-term Outcomes of Pharmacist-Led Home Blood Pressure Telemonitoring and Management
14 Sep, 2018 | 01:55h | UTCCommentary: Pharmacist-Led BP Telemonitoring Intervention Works Up to 1 Year After Program Stops – TCTMD (free)
Alex Nowbar’s Research Reviews, 10 September 2018
14 Sep, 2018 | 01:57h | UTCAlex Nowbar’s research reviews, 10 September 2018 – The BMJ (free)
Cohort Study: Association of Dairy Intake with Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality
14 Sep, 2018 | 01:49h | UTCAssociation of dairy intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 21 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study – The Lancet (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: The Lancet: Dairy consumption linked to lower rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality – EurekAlert (free) AND Dairy food in moderation ‘may protect the heart’ – The Guardian (free) AND Is Whole-Fat Dairy Good for the Heart? – New York Times (free)
Related: Meta-Analysis: Cheese consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease (link to abstract and commentaries) AND Milk and dairy consumption and risk of cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality (free study and commentaries)
“It is not the ultimate seal of approval for recommending whole-fat dairy over its low-fat or skimmed counterparts. Readers should be cautious, and treat this study only as yet another piece of the evidence (albeit a large one) in the literature.”
Study: Pain, Opioids, and Suicide Mortality
14 Sep, 2018 | 01:47h | UTCEditorial: Pain, Opioids, and Suicide Mortality in the United States (free)
Commentaries: Chronic pain may contribute to suicide, study warns – Reuters(free) ANDChronic Pain Tied to Increased Suicide Risk – NEJM Physician’s First Watch(free) AND Increasing rates of chronic pain found among those who die by suicide – ACP Internist(free)
How Well do You Know your Anticholinergic (Antimuscarinic) Drugs?
14 Sep, 2018 | 01:56h | UTCHow well do you know your anticholinergic (antimuscarinic) drugs? – Therapeutics Initiative (free)
Podcast: Gout Management
14 Sep, 2018 | 01:41h | UTC
Study: Lifestyle Changes Reduce the Need for Blood Pressure Medications
14 Sep, 2018 | 01:40h | UTCCommentary: Lifestyle Interventions Cut Need for Antihypertensives Within Months – NEJM Physician’s First Watch (free)
Randomized Trial: Therapeutic Tai Ji Quan Intervention vs a Multimodal Exercise Intervention to Prevent Falls Among Older Adults
14 Sep, 2018 | 01:37h | UTCCommentaries: Tai Chi May Work Best to Prevent Falls in Old Age – WebMD(free) ANDTai Ji Quan Can Reduce Falls in Elderly – MedicalResearch.com (free)
Randomized Trial: Preventing Cognitive Decline in Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment
14 Sep, 2018 | 01:36h | UTCPreventing Cognitive Decline in Black Individuals With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA Neurology (free for a limited period)
Commentary: Study provides evidence to prevent memory decline in older blacks with mild cognitive impairment – News Medical (free) AND Novel Intervention Markedly Slows Cognitive Decline in MCI – Medscape (free registration required)
Guideline for the Management of Graves’ Hyperthyroidism
14 Sep, 2018 | 01:35h | UTC2018 European Thyroid Association Guideline for the Management of Graves’ Hyperthyroidism – European Thyroid Journal (free) (via @CristobMorales and @Abraham_RMI)
NICE Guideline: Pancreatitis
14 Sep, 2018 | 01:30h | UTCPancreatitis – National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (free)
Study: Statins for Primary Prevention in Old and Very Old Adults
14 Sep, 2018 | 01:26h | UTCEditorial: Primary prevention with statins for older adults (free)
Commentaries: Expert reaction to study on use of statins in older people – Science Media Centre (free) AND Widespread use of statins in healthy older people to prevent heart disease not recommended in new study – BMJ, via ScienceDaily (free)
“New research does not support widespread use of statins in healthy older people to prevent heart disease and stroke. Results found that any protective effect was limited to those with type 2 diabetes aged between 75 and 84” (via @bmj_latest see Tweet)


