Smoked cannabis for chronic neuropathic pain: a randomized controlled trial
Mark A. Ware MBBS, Tongtong Wang PhD, Stan Shapiro PhD and colleagues
August 30, 2010
Cannabis smoked three times per day reduced the intensity of neuropathic pain, improved sleep and was well tolerated. In this randomized crossover trial of 23 patients, Ware and colleagues used three strengths of cannabis as well as placebo to test the effects of the drug. These findings are suggestive, but they need to be confirmed in larger long-term safety and efficacy studies, say the authors. Full article
COMMENTARY: More evidence cannabis can help in neuropathic pain
A prospective cluster-randomized trial to implement the Canadian CT Head Rule in emergency departments
Ian G. Stiell MD MSc, Catherine M. Clement RN, Jeremy M. Grimshaw MBChB PhD and colleagues
August 23, 2010
Despite a well-designed knowledge translation strategy, it was not possible to reduce inappropriate use of computed tomography (CT) scanning in emergency departments. In this randomized controlled trial involving 4500 people with minor head injury, Stiell and colleagues attempted to implement the Canadian CT Head Rule using education, policy and real-time reminders. The authors suggest that future studies should identify ways to deal with barriers to implementation of decision rules. Full article
Short-term mortality associated with failure to receive home care after hemiarthroplasty
Elham Rahme PhD, Susan R. Kahn MD MSc, Kaberi Dasgupta MD MSc and colleagues
August 16, 2010
Patients who receive home care after hemiarthroplasty have a lower risk of death in the first three months after discharge from hospital. Rahme and colleagues used administrative data to study 11 326 patients who had had the operation and found that less than 16% received home care. More research is needed to define the effects of home care and the appropriate level of provision after hip surgery. Full article
