Kosice Applies Evidence-Based Medicine to Neonatal Practices

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Partners from Kosice, Slovakia and Providence, Rhode Island are putting the principles of evidence-based medicine (EBM) to work in an effort to determine the current best evidence to make effective decisions about neonatal care.

To allow health care professionals in CEE and the NIS an opportunity to partake in EBM analysis, AIHA has supplied its Learning Resource Centers with CD-ROMs from the Cochrane Library, an international collection of up-to-date reviews of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) by specialty.

During a recent videoconference linking Kosice and Providence, physicians used examples of RCTs found in the Cochrane Library to prompt debate on the proper dosages of Vitamin E and cerebrolysin--a drug used to prevent brain damage--to treat premature or ill newborns.

"It was an excellent way to show the possibilities of the Cochrane Library, and to show 50 nurses and physicians from our region that all the drugs used in neonatal care must be reviewed with the principles of EBM," said Peter Krcho, MD, a neonatalogist and information coordinator at Kosice Faculty Hospital. "Some of the [participants] were surprised about the overview of some of the drugs and they said 'We must stop the usage of that drug in such high doses.'"

"It was clear that we are using too high doses of Vitamin E in our region--reduction will cause fewer complications and also save money," he said.

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