The role of oral magnesium supplements for the management of stable bronchial asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Asthma is a chronic lung disease characterized by airway inflammation and hyper-responsiveness of airway smooth muscles. There is growing evidence that magnesium may have a role in managing asthma through its dual effect as an anti-inflammatory and bronchodilating agent. To assess the efficacy of oral magnesium supplements in chronic asthmatic patients. In addition to searching through Clinicaltrials.gov/ and references for oral magnesium supplement studies, we performed a database search in Medline, CINAHL, CENTRAL, and Embase. We contacted the authors of the included trials to ask for additional information. We included randomized controlled trials that compared oral magnesium supplements versus placebo, in addition to standard asthma treatment in mild-moderate asthmatic adults and children (older than 6 years). Two reviewers independently performed the study selection, data abstraction, and the assessment of the risk of bias. Eight trials at moderate risk of bias enrolling a total of 917 patients were included. Oral magnesium improved FEV1 at week 8 (5.69 (L/min); 95% CI: 1.92, 9.46; I2: 45%). There was no significant improvement in FEV1 at other follow up periods. There was no significant change in FVC, Methacholine challenge test, the frequency of bronchodilator use, or symptoms score. There were no data on mortality or quality of life. Oral magnesium supplements may lead to improvement in FEV1 that was only demonstrated at eight weeks; but no effect on any other outcome. Until future evidence emerges, oral magnesium cannot be recommended as adjuvants to standard treatment for mild to moderate asthmatic individuals.

Total knee arthroplasty: Effect of obesity and other patients' characteristics on operative duration and outcome.

AIM: To examine the effects of patients' characteristics mainly obesity on operative duration and other outcome measures of knee arthroplasty. METHODS: This is a retrospective chart review of 204 patients who had knee arthroplasty within the past five years (2007-2011) at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The data collection form was developed utilizing the literature review to gather all the needed variables. Data were gathered from admission notes, nursing notes, operative reports and discharge summaries. RESULTS: A feasible sample of 204 patients were included in the study. Of those patients, 155 (76%) were females. The mean age was 70.1 years for males (SD ± 9.4) and 62.7 years (SD ± 8) for females. Regarding the type of total knee replacement (TKR), 163 (79.9%) patients had unilateral TKR and 41 (20.1%) had bilateral TKR. Nine patients (4.4%) had a normal body mass index (BMI) (18.5 to < 25). Overweight patients (BMI 25 to < 30) represented 18.1%. Obesity class I (BMI 30 to < 35) and obesity class II (BMI from 35 to < 40) were present in 23% and 29.9% of the patients, respectively. Morbid obesity (BMI greater than 40) was present in 24.5%. The mean duration of surgery was 126.3 min (SD ± 30.8) for unilateral TKR and 216.6 min (SD ± 55.4) for bilateral TKR.The mean length of stay in the hospital was 12 d (SD ± 4.9). The complications that patients had after the operation included 2 patients (1%) who developed deep venous thrombosis, 2 patients (1%) developed surgical wound infections and none had pulmonary embolism. Patients' characteristics (including age, gender, BMI and co-morbidities) did not have an effect on the operative duration of knee replacement nor the length of hospital stay. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that obesity and other patients' characteristics do not have effect on the operative duration nor the length of hospital stay following TKR.