. These interventions include combinations of patient and family education, home monitoring of disease status, and increased convenience of care, such as workplace access. (Grade of Recommendation: B, based on randomized controlled trials)...

Ranitidine is the best-studied agent effective for treatment of heartburn in pregnancy. Some antacids are effective, but it may be prudent to avoid them in the first trimester until better safety studies are published. ...

Children with suspected or culture-proven acute nonvenereal bacterial conjunctivitis should be treated with topical antibiotics, which hastens clinical and microbiological remission and may prevent potentially serious ...

Treating migraines: Its different for kids. Certain medications used for migraine prevention in adults do not perform the same way in children and adolescents and can actually cause harm. PRACTICE CHANGER: Do not prescribe amitriptyline...

Of the available oral therapies for common warts, none has sufficient evidence to recommend it as an effective therapy (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B). To date, no oral agent has been shown to be effective in a ...

Women with a history of regular, normal Pap smear screening should discontinue screening by age 65 years (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B). Women without a history of serial normal Pap smears should continue screening ...

For most patients with purulent nasal discharge, antibiotics don't decrease symptom duration; they do increase adverse events (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, 3 meta-analyses and 2 randomized controlled trials [RCTs]). ...

One approach is to use antidepressants alone, which reduce symptoms for patients with major depression plus symptoms of anxiety or major depression plus generalized anxiety disorder. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ...

No individual or combination of blood tests can reliably diagnose pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)(strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, metaanalysis). The combination of white blood cell count, C-reactive protein (CRP), ...

No single study evaluates the effectiveness of osteoporosis screening. However, screening women over the age of 65 years -- or those between 60-64 years with certain risk factors -- is recommended based on available evidence. ...

Self-Adverse reactions to long-term tetracycline therapy are rare, and most will occur within 2 months of initiating therapy (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, systematic review of ecological studies). Rare but serious ...

Healthy, nonpregnant women presenting with the triad of frequency, dysuria, and no vaginal symptoms have about a 96% chance of having an urinary tract infection (UTI) (positive likelihood ratio [LR+]=24.6). Since no ...

Evidence on the use of leukotriene inhibitors in children is insufficient to permit conclusions regarding efficacy. Given the proven efficacy of inhaled corticosteroids in asthma management, leukotriene inhibitors should ...

Several interventions may reduce the risk of contrast nephropathy for high-risk patients; however, most evidence uses surrogate markers for clinically relevant outcomes. Because dehydration is a risk factor for developing ...

No large-scale randomized, placebo-controlled trials evaluate furosemide's effect on mortality and long-term morbidity in diastolic or systolic dysfunction. In short-term studies, furosemide reduces edema, reduces ...

Yes, testosterone therapy is effective in improving libido for elderly hypogonadal males (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, based on small randomized controlled trials [RCTs]). Testosterone combined with estrogen can ...

Regular exercise may reduce vasomotor symptoms of menopause (strength of recommendation [SOR]: C--single observational study). Soy products/isoflavones, either through diet or supplementation, may reduce the incidence of ...

Should you switch the DAPT agent one month after ACS? A randomized controlled trial says "Yes," but current guidelines say "No." PRACTICE CHANGER: Switch to clopidogrel from one of the newer P2Y12 blockers 1 month after an acute coronary vent, while...

Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and computed tomography angiography (CTA) are the most consistently accurate, noninvasive screening methods. MRA is likely the preferred option because of its lack of radiation and ...