Evidence-Based Medicine

An August 2021 appraisal of the RECOVERY-RS preprint comparing CPAP, high-flow nasal oxygen and conventional oxygen for COVID-19 respiratory failure. It separates the findings on intubation from those on mortality and examines early stopping, crossover and possible treatment-decision bias.

An August 2021 appraisal of therapeutic-dose heparin in hospitalised COVID-19 patients without ICU-level organ support. It examines the multiplatform trial's benefits, bleeding-risk exclusions and composite outcome, and explains why these findings differ from those in critically ill patients.

Does cooling to 33°C improve outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest? This 2021 review of TTM2 compares hypothermia with actively managed normothermia, examining survival, neurological outcomes, adverse events and why fever control should not be confused with leaving temperature unmanaged.

A June 2021 review of early RECOVERY results for casirivimab and imdevimab in hospitalised COVID-19 patients. It explains the reported mortality benefit in patients without detectable antibodies, why that finding did not extend to the whole trial population, and the preliminary evidence available then.

Iain and Simon revisit the St Emlyn's blog in their May 2021 podcast round-up. The linked reading covers anaphylaxis, staff wellbeing, adult congenital heart disease, calcium in trauma, spontaneous coronary artery dissection and reporting hospital data after the Manchester Arena bombing.

A June 2021 look at the first RECOVERY results for aspirin in hospitalised COVID-19 patients. The review considers the absence of a demonstrated mortality benefit, the balance between bleeding and thrombotic events, and the limits of the early results.