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Background: The need to reduce healthcare practices that provide no value has led to the development of initiatives that generate and publish recommendations to improve the appropriateness of clinical practice by identifying potentially inappropriate services, making recommendations, and proposing improvements. DianaHealth (www.dianahealth.com) identifies, classifies, and publishes recommendations from numerous scientific societies. The purpose of this study was to determine the awareness and perceived usefulness and applicability of published recommendations on low-value diagnostic measures, as judged by physicians who are recognised clinical leaders in their respective centres.Methods: We designed a questionnaire on the diagnostic recommendations considered relevant for each medical specialty and made it available, until September 2016, on DianaHealth. The survey was administered online to clinical leaders from 25 Spanish healthcare centres (hospitals and primary care centres).Results: A total of 413 (40.0%) physicians from 34 different specialties participated. The participation rate varied between centres (range 21.1%-100.0%) and specialties (range 12.5%-78.9%). Do Not Do (57.1%) was the most widely-known initiative. Most participants (82.6%; IQR 77.9%-94.9%) stated that they knew at least one of the 12 initiatives that identify non-recommended practices, and on average they were aware of four initiatives (range 1-12). The initiatives were perceived useful by 82.4% (IQR 73.3%-90.4%), and perceived applicable by 75.6% (IQR 67.4%-86.8%). A total of 531 recommendations were assessed. Sixty-three percent (IQR 53.6%-77.5%) of participants reported they were aware of the recommendations for their corresponding specialty. A total of 84.5% (IQR 75.0%-90.0%) stated they agreed with the recommendations and 84.5% (IQR 75.0%-90.0%) considered them useful. Among those who agreed with their respective recommendations, a median of 51.5% (IQR 41.4%-60.9%) perceived the guidelines as being fully implemented, 40.1% (IQR 31.9%-46.8%) considered them partially implemented, and 7.1% (IQR 3.7%-12.9%), not implemented.Conclusions: Clinical leaders' awareness of initiatives that generate and publish recommendations to improve clinical appropriateness remains low, although they did consider them useful. In general, participants were familiar with their speciality-specific diagnostic recommendations, agreed with them, and perceived them as useful and implemented in their centres. More needs to be done to raise awareness among professionals who do not know of or apply these recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: To evaluate the opinion of hospital nurses on a group of recommendations aimed at reducing low‐value nursing care and, based on these results, to detect low‐value practices probably existing in the hospital. Background: Low‐value nursing care refers to clinical practices with poor or no benefit for patients that may be harmful and a waste of resources. Detecting these practices and understanding nurses' perceptions are essential to developing effective interventions to reduce them. Methods: We conducted a survey in a tertiary hospital. STROBE guidelines were followed. The questionnaire appraised nurses' agreement, subjective adherence and perception of usefulness of a group of recommendations to reduce low‐value nursing care from Choosing Wisely and other initiatives. Practices described in recommendations with an agreement over 70% and a subjective adherence under 70% were categorised as low‐value practices probably existing in the hospital. Results: A total of 265 nurses from eight areas of care participated in the survey. The response rate by area ranged between 2%–55%. From the 38 recommendations evaluated, agreement was 96% (95% confidence interval [95%CI], 95%–97%), median subjective adherence was 80% (95%CI, 80%–85%), and usefulness was 90% (95%CI, 89%–92%). Based on these results, we detected seven (0–15) low‐value practices probably existing in our hospital, mostly on general practice, pregnancy care and wound care. Conclusions: We found a great understanding of low‐value care between nurses, given the high agreement to recommendations and perception of usefulness. However, several low‐value practices may be present in nursing care, requiring actions to reduce them, for instance, reviewing institutional protocols and involving patients in de‐implementation. Relevance to clinical practice: Hospitals and other settings should be aware of low‐value practices and take actions to identify and reduce them. A survey may be a simple and helpful way to start this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To describe the development of a novel on-line database aimed to serve as a source of information concerning healthcare interventions appraised for their clinical value and appropriateness by several initiatives worldwide, and to present a retrospective analysis of the appraisals already included in the database. Methods and Findings: Database development and a retrospective analysis. The database DianaHealth.com is already on-line and it is regularly updated, independent, open access and available in English and Spanish. Initiatives are identified in medical news, in article references, and by contacting experts in the field. We include appraisals in the form of clinical recommendations, expert analyses, conclusions from systematic reviews, and original research that label any health care intervention as low-value or inappropriate. We obtain the information necessary to classify the appraisals according to type of intervention, specialties involved, publication year, authoring initiative, and key words. The database is accessible through a search engine which retrieves a list of appraisals and a link to the website where they were published. DianaHealth.com also provides a brief description of the initiatives and a section where users can report new appraisals or suggest new initiatives. From January 2014 to July 2015, the on-line database included 2940 appraisals from 22 initiatives: eleven campaigns gathering clinical recommendations from scientific societies, five sets of conclusions from literature review, three sets of recommendations from guidelines, two collections of articles on low clinical value in medical journals, and an initiative of our own. Conclusions: We have developed an open access on-line database of appraisals about healthcare interventions considered of low clinical value or inappropriate. DianaHealth.com could help physicians and other stakeholders make better decisions concerning patient care and healthcare systems sustainability. Future efforts should be focused on assessing the impact of these appraisals in the clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The objective of this research is to generate quality of care indicators from systematic reviews to assess the appropriateness of obstetric care in hospitals. Methods: A search for systematic reviews about hospital obstetric interventions, conducted in The Cochrane Library, clinical evidence and practice guidelines, identified 303 reviews. We selected 48 high-quality evidence reviews, which resulted in strong clinical recommendations using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. The 255 remaining reviews were excluded, mainly due to a lack of strong evidence provided by the studies reviewed. Results: A total of 18 indicators were formulated from these clinical recommendations, on antepartum care (8), care during delivery and postpartum (9), and incomplete miscarriage (1). Authors of the systematic reviews and specialists in obstetrics were consulted to refine the formulation of indicators. Conclusions: High-quality systematic reviews, whose conclusions clearly claim in favour or against an intervention, can be a source for generating quality indicators of delivery care. To make indicators coherent, the nuances of clinical practice should be considered. Any attempt made to evaluate the extent to which delivery care in hospitals is based on scientific evidence should take the generated indicators into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer is increasing in developing countries, and Colombia has a double burden from cervical and breast cancer. Suitable guidelines for breast cancer early detection are needed, and the Breast Health Global Initiative provides a favorable framework for breast cancer control in low resource nations. The Colombian National Cancer Institute developed evidence-based guidelines for breast cancer early detection in which coordinated early detection in symptomatic women and hospital-based screening in women aged 50–69 are recommended. A pilot project to evaluate programmatic approaches (opportunistic screening) was designed, and it is expected that organized hospital-based screening for breast cancer will represent a move towards population-based screening in the near future in accordance with country specific conditions. Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pulmonary transplantation is the final treatment option for people with end-stage respiratory diseases. Evidence suggests that exercise training may contribute to speeding up physical recovery in adults undergoing lung transplantation, helping to minimize or resolve impairments due to physical inactivity in both the pre- and post-transplant stages. However, there is a lack of detailed guidelines on how exercise training should be carried out in this specific sub-population., Objectives: To determine the benefits and safety of exercise training in adult patients who have undergone lung transplantation, measuring the maximal and functional exercise capacity; health-related quality of life; adverse events; patient readmission; pulmonary function; muscular strength; pathological bone fractures; return to normal activities and death., Search Methods: We searched the Cochrane Kidney and Transplant Specialised Register up to 6 October 2020 using relevant search terms for this review. Studies in the CKTR are identified through CENTRAL, MEDLINE, and EMBASE searches, conference proceedings, the International Clinical Trials Register (ICTRP) Search Portal, and ClinicalTrials.gov., Selection Criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were included comparing exercise training with usual care or no exercise training, or with another exercise training program in terms of dosage, modality, program length, or use of supporting exercise devices. The study population comprised of participants older than 18 years who underwent lung transplantation independent of their underlying respiratory pathology., Data Collection and Analysis: Two authors independently reviewed all records identified by the search strategy and selected studies that met the eligibility criteria for inclusion in this review. In the first instance, the disagreements were resolved by consensus, and if this was not possible the decision was taken by a third reviewer. The same reviewers independently extracted outcome data from included studies and assessed risk of bias. Confidence in the evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach., Main Results: Eight RCTs (438 participants) were included in this review. The median sample size was 60 participants with a range from 16 to 83 participants. The mean age of participants was 54.9 years and 51.9% of the participants were male. The median duration of the exercise training programs for the groups undergoing the intervention was 13 weeks, and the median duration of training in the active control groups was four weeks. Overall the risk of bias was considered to be high, mainly due to the inability to blind the study participants and the selective reporting of the results. Due to small number of studies included in this review, and the heterogeneity of the intervention and outcomes, we did not obtain a summary estimate of the results. Two studies comparing resistance exercise training with no exercise reported increases in muscle strength and bone mineral density (surrogate outcomes for pathological bone fractures) with exercise training (P > 0.05), but no differences in adverse events. Exercise capacity, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), pulmonary function, and death (any cause) were not reported. Three studies compared two different resistant training programs. Two studies comparing squats using a vibration platform (WBVT) compared to squats on the floor reported an improvement in 6-minute walk test (6MWT) (28.4 metres, 95% CI 3 to 53.7; P = 0.029; and 28.3 metres, 95% CI 10.0 to 46.6; P < 0.05) with the WBVT. Supervised upper limb exercise (SULP) program improved 6MWT at 6 months compared to no supervised upper limb exercise (NULP) (SULP group: 561.2 ± 83.6 metres; NULP group: 503.5 ± 115.2 metres; P = 0.01). There were no differences in HRQoL, adverse events, muscular strength, or death (any cause). Pulmonary function and pathological bone fractures were not reported. Two studies comparing multimodal exercise training with no exercise reported improvement in 6MWT at 3 months (P = 0.008) and at 12-months post-transplant (P = 0.002) and muscular strength (quadriceps force (P = 0.001); maximum leg press (P = 0.047)) with multimodal exercise, but no improvement in HRQoL, adverse events, pulmonary function, pathological bone fractures (lumbar T-score), or death (any cause). One study comparing the same multimodal exercise programs given over 7 and 14 weeks reported no differences in 6MWT, HRQoL, adverse events, pulmonary function, muscle strength, or death (any cause). Pathological bone fractures were not reported. According to GRADE criteria, we rated the certainty of the evidence as very low, mainly due to the high risk of bias and serious imprecision., Authors' Conclusions: In adults undergoing lung transplantation the evidence about the effects of exercise training is very uncertain in terms of maximal and functional exercise capacity, HRQoL and safety, due to very imprecise estimates of effects and high risk of bias., (Copyright © 2021 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Background: Brain metastases occur when cancer cells spread from their original site to the brain and are a frequent cause of morbidity and death in people with cancer. They occur in 20% to 40% of people during the course of their disease. Brain metastases are also the most frequent type of brain malignancy. Single and solitary brain metastasis is infrequent and choosing the most appropriate treatment is a clinical challenge. Surgery and stereotactic radiotherapy are two options. For surgery, tumour resection is performed using microsurgical techniques, while in stereotactic radiotherapy, external ionising radiation beams are precisely focused on the brain metastasis. Stereotactic radiotherapy may be given as a single dose, also known as single dose radiosurgery, or in a number of fractions, also known as fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy. There is uncertainty regarding which treatment (surgery or stereotactic radiotherapy) is more effective for people with single or solitary brain metastasis., Objectives: To assess the effectiveness and safety of surgery versus stereotactic radiotherapy for people with single or solitary brain metastasis., Search Methods: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, Issue 3, March 2018), MEDLINE and Embase up to 25 March 2018 for relevant studies. We also searched trials databases, grey literature and handsearched relevant literature., Selection Criteria: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing surgery versus stereotactic radiotherapy, either a single fraction (stereotactic radiosurgery) or multiple fractions (fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy) for treatment of single or solitary brain metastasis., Data Collection and Analysis: Two review authors screened all references, evaluated the quality of the included studies using the Cochrane tool for assessing risk of bias, and performed data extraction. The primary outcomes were overall survival and adverse events. Secondary outcomes included progression-free survival and quality of life . We analysed overall survival and progression-free survival as hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and analysed adverse events as risk ratios (RRs). For quality of life we used mean difference (MD)., Main Results: Two RCTs including 85 participants met our inclusion criteria. One study included people with single untreated brain metastasis (n = 64), and the other included people with solitary brain metastasis (22 consented to randomisation and 21 were analysed). We identified a third trial reported as completed and pending results this may be included in future updates of this review. The two included studies were prematurely closed due to poor participant accrual. One study compared surgery plus whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) versus stereotactic radiosurgery alone, and the second study compared surgery plus WBRT versus stereotactic radiosurgery plus WBRT. Meta-analysis was not possible due to clinical heterogeneity between trial interventions. The overall certainty of evidence was low or very low for all outcomes due to high risk of bias and imprecision.We found no difference in overall survival in either of the two comparisons. For the comparison of surgery plus WBRT versus stereotactic radiosurgery alone: HR 0.92, 95% CI 0.48 to 1.77; 64 participants, very low-certainty evidence. We downgraded the certainty of the evidence to very low due to risk of bias and imprecision. For the comparison of surgery plus WBRT versus stereotactic radiosurgery plus WBRT: HR 0.53, 95% CI 0.20 to 1.42; 21 participants, low-certainty evidence. We downgraded the certainty of the evidence to low due to imprecision. Adverse events were reported in both trial groups in the two studies, showing no differences for surgery plus WBRT versus stereotactic radiosurgery alone (RR 0.31, 95% CI 0.07 to 1.44; 64 participants) and for surgery plus WBRT versus stereotactic radiosurgery plus WBRT (RR 0.37, 95% CI 0.05 to 2.98; 21 participants). Most of the adverse events were related to radiation toxicities. We considered the certainty of the evidence from the two comparisons to be very low due to risk of bias and imprecision.There was no difference in progression-free survival in the study comparing surgery plus WBRT versus stereotactic radiosurgery plus WBRT (HR 0.55, 95% CI 0.22 to 1.38; 21 participants, low-certainty evidence). We downgraded the evidence to low certainty due to imprecision. This outcome was not clearly reported for the other comparison. In general, there were no differences in quality of life between the two studies. The study comparing surgery plus WBRT versus stereotactic radiosurgery plus WBRT found no differences after two months using the QLQ-C30 global scale (MD -10.80, 95% CI -44.67 to 23.07; 14 participants, very low-certainty evidence). We downgraded the certainty of evidence to very low due to risk of bias and imprecision., Authors' Conclusions: Currently, there is no definitive evidence regarding the effectiveness and safety of surgery versus stereotactic radiotherapy on overall survival, adverse events, progression-free survival and quality of life in people with single or solitary brain metastasis, and benefits must be decided on a case-by-case basis until well powered and designed trials are available. Given the difficulties in participant accrual, an international multicentred approach should be considered for future studies.

Background: Acute high altitude illness is defined as a group of cerebral and pulmonary syndromes that can occur during travel to high altitudes. It is more common above 2500 metres, but can be seen at lower elevations, especially in susceptible people. Acute high altitude illness includes a wide spectrum of syndromes defined under the terms 'acute mountain sickness' (AMS), 'high altitude cerebral oedema' and 'high altitude pulmonary oedema'. There are several interventions available to treat this condition, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological; however, there is a great uncertainty regarding their benefits and harms., Objectives: To assess the clinical effectiveness, and safety of interventions (non-pharmacological and pharmacological), as monotherapy or in any combination, for treating acute high altitude illness., Search Methods: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, LILACS, ISI Web of Science, CINAHL, Wanfang database and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform for ongoing studies on 10 August 2017. We did not apply any language restriction., Selection Criteria: We included randomized controlled trials evaluating the effects of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for individuals suffering from acute high altitude illness: acute mountain sickness, high altitude pulmonary oedema or high altitude cerebral oedema., Data Collection and Analysis: Two review authors independently assessed the eligibility of study reports, the risk of bias for each and performed the data extraction. We resolved disagreements through discussion with a third author. We assessed the quality of evidence with GRADE., Main Results: We included 13 studies enrolling a total of 468 participants. We identified two ongoing studies. All studies included adults, and two studies included both teenagers and adults. The 13 studies took place in high altitude areas, mostly in the European Alps. Twelve studies included participants with acute mountain sickness, and one study included participants with high altitude pulmonary oedema. Follow-up was usually less than one day. We downgraded the quality of the evidence in most cases due to risk of bias and imprecision. We report results for the main comparisons as follows.Non-pharmacological interventions (3 studies, 124 participants)All-cause mortality and complete relief of AMS symptoms were not reported in the three included trials. One study in 64 participants found that a simulated descent of 193 millibars versus 20 millibars may reduce the average of symptoms to 2.5 vs 3.1 units after 12 hours of treatment (clinical score ranged from 0 to 11 ‒ worse; reduction of 0.6 points on average with the intervention; low quality of evidence). In addition, no complications were found with use of hyperbaric chambers versus supplementary oxygen (one study; 29 participants; low-quality evidence).Pharmacological interventions (11 trials, 375 participants)All-cause mortality was not reported in the 11 included trials. One trial found a greater proportion of participants with complete relief of AMS symptoms after 12 and 16 hours when dexamethasone was administered in comparison with placebo (47.1% versus 0%, respectively; one study; 35 participants; low quality of evidence). Likewise, when acetazolamide was compared with placebo, the effects on symptom severity was uncertain (standardized mean difference (SMD) -1.15, 95% CI -2.56 to 0.27; 2 studies, 25 participants; low-quality evidence). One trial of dexamethasone in comparison with placebo in 35 participants found a reduction in symptom severity (difference on change in the AMS score: 3.7 units reported by authors; moderate quality of evidence). The effects from two additional trials comparing gabapentin with placebo and magnesium with placebo on symptom severity at the end of treatment were uncertain. For gabapentin versus placebo: mean visual analogue scale (VAS) score of 2.92 versus 4.75, respectively; 24 participants; low quality of evidence. For magnesium versus placebo: mean scores of 9 and 10.3 units, respectively; 25 participants; low quality of evidence). The trials did not find adverse events from either treatment (low quality of evidence). One trial comparing magnesium sulphate versus placebo found that flushing was a frequent event in the magnesium sulphate arm (percentage of flushing: 75% versus 7.7%, respectively; one study; 25 participants; low quality of evidence)., Authors' Conclusions: There is limited available evidence to determine the effects of non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions in treating acute high altitude illness. Low-quality evidence suggests that dexamethasone and acetazolamide might reduce AMS score compared to placebo. However, the clinical benefits and harms related to these potential interventions remain unclear. Overall, the evidence is of limited practical significance in the clinical field. High-quality research in this field is needed, since most trials were poorly conducted and reported.

Background: A blood transfusion is an acute intervention, implemented to solve life and health-threatening conditions on a short-term basis. However, blood transfusions have adverse events, some of them potentially related to immune modulation or to a direct transmission of infectious agents (e.g. cytomegalovirus). Leukoreduction is a process in which the white blood cells are intentionally reduced in packed red blood cells (PRBCs) in order to reduce the risk of adverse reactions. The potential benefits of leukoreduced PRBCs in all types of transfused patients for decreasing infectious and non-infectious complications remain unclear., Objectives: To determine the clinical effectiveness of leukoreduction of packed red blood cells for preventing adverse reactions following allogeneic blood transfusion., Search Methods: We ran the most recent search on 10th November 2015. We searched the Cochrane Injuries Group's Specialised Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, the Cochrane Library), MEDLINE (OvidSP), Embase(OvidSP), CINAHL Plus (EBSCO), LILACS (BIREME), and clinical trials registers. In addition, we checked the reference lists of all relevant trials and reviews identified in the literature searches., Selection Criteria: Randomised clinical trials including patients of all ages requiring PRBC allogeneic transfusion. Any study was eligible for inclusion, regardless of the length of participant follow-up or country where the study was performed. The primary outcome was transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI). Secondary outcomes were death from any cause, infection from any cause, non-infectious complications and any other adverse event., Data Collection and Analysis: At least two review authors independently performed study selection, 'Risk of bias' assessments and data extraction. We estimated pooled relative risk for dichotomous outcomes, and we measured statistical heterogeneity using I² statistic. The random-effects model was used to synthesise results. We conducted a trial sequential analysis to assess the risk of random errors in cumulative meta-analyses., Main Results: Thirteen studies, most including adult patients, met the eligibility criteria. We found no clear evidence of an effect of leukoreduced PRBC versus non-leukoreduced PRBC in patients that were randomised to receive transfusion for the following outcomes: TRALI: RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.36, P = 0.80 from one trial reporting data on 1864 trauma patients. The accrued information of 1864 participants constituted only 28.5% of the diversity-adjusted required information size (DARIS) of 6548 participants. The quality of evidence was low. Death from any cause: RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.58 to 1.12, I² statistic = 63%, P = 0.20 from nine trials reporting data on 6485 cardiovascular surgical patients, gastro-oncology surgical patients, trauma patients and HIV infected patients. The accrued information of 6485 participants constituted only 55.3% of the DARIS of 11,735 participants. The quality of evidence was very low. Infection from any cause: RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.62 to 1.03, I² statistic = 84%, P = 0.08 from 10 trials reporting data on 6709 cardiovascular surgical patients, gastro-oncology surgical patients, trauma patients and HIV infected patients. The accrued information of 6709 participants constituted only 60.6% of the DARIS of 11,062 participants. The quality of evidence was very low. Adverse events: The only adverse event reported as an adverse event was fever (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.64 to 1.02; I² statistic= 0%, P = 0.07). Fever was reported in two trials on 634 cardiovascular surgical and gastro-oncology surgical patients. The accrued information of 634 participants constituted only 84.4% of the DARIS of 751 participants. The quality of evidence was low. Incidence of other non-infectious complications: This outcome was not assessed in any included trial., Authors' Conclusions: There is no clear evidence for supporting or rejecting the routine use of leukoreduction in all patients requiring PRBC transfusion for preventing TRALI, death, infection, non-infectious complications and other adverse events. As the quality of evidence is very low to low, more evidence is needed before a definitive conclusion can be drawn.

Background: This is an updated version of the original Cochrane review published in Issue 8, 2011, on 'Drug therapy for treating post-dural puncture headache'.Post-dural puncture headache (PDPH) is the most common complication of lumbar puncture, an invasive procedure frequently performed in the emergency room. Numerous pharmaceutical drugs have been proposed to treat PDPH but there are still some uncertainties about their clinical effectiveness., Objectives: To assess the effectiveness and safety of drugs for treating PDPH in adults and children., Search Methods: The searches included the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL 2014, Issue 6), MEDLINE and MEDLINE in Process (from 1950 to 29 July 2014), EMBASE (from 1980 to 29 July 2014) and CINAHL (from 1982 to July 2014). There were no language restrictions., Selection Criteria: We considered randomised controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effectiveness of any pharmacological drug used for treating PDPH. Outcome measures considered for this review were: PDPH persistence of any severity at follow-up (primary outcome), daily activity limited by headache, conservative supplementary therapeutic option offered, epidural blood patch performed, change in pain severity scores, improvements in pain severity scores, number of days participants stay in hospital, any possible adverse events and missing data., Data Collection and Analysis: Review authors independently selected studies, assessed risk of bias and extracted data. We estimated risk ratios (RR) for dichotomous data and mean differences (MD) for continuous outcomes. We calculated a 95% confidence interval (CI) for each RR and MD. We did not undertake meta-analysis because the included studies assessed different sorts of drugs or different outcomes. We performed an intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis., Main Results: We included 13 small RCTs (479 participants) in this review (at least 274 participants were women, with 118 parturients after a lumbar puncture for regional anaesthesia). In the original version of this Cochrane review, only seven small RCTs (200 participants) were included. Pharmacological drugs assessed were oral and intravenous caffeine, subcutaneous sumatriptan, oral gabapentin, oral pregabalin, oral theophylline, intravenous hydrocortisone, intravenous cosyntropin and intramuscular adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).Two RCTs reported data for PDPH persistence of any severity at follow-up (primary outcome). Caffeine reduced the number of participants with PDPH at one to two hours when compared to placebo. Treatment with caffeine also decreased the need for a conservative supplementary therapeutic option.Treatment with gabapentin resulted in better visual analogue scale (VAS) scores after one, two, three and four days when compared with placebo and also when compared with ergotamine plus caffeine at two, three and four days. Treatment with hydrocortisone plus conventional treatment showed better VAS scores at six, 24 and 48 hours when compared with conventional treatment alone and also when compared with placebo. Treatment with theophylline showed better VAS scores compared with acetaminophen at two, six and 12 hours and also compared with conservative treatment at eight, 16 and 24 hours. Theophylline also showed a lower mean "sum of pain" when compared with placebo. Sumatriptan and ACTH did not show any relevant effect for this outcome.Theophylline resulted in a higher proportion of participants reporting an improvement in pain scores when compared with conservative treatment.There were no clinically significant drug adverse events.The rest of the outcomes were not reported by the included RCTs or did not show any relevant effect., Authors' Conclusions: None of the new included studies have provided additional information to change the conclusions of the last published version of the original Cochrane review. Caffeine has shown effectiveness for treating PDPH, decreasing the proportion of participants with PDPH persistence and those requiring supplementary interventions, when compared with placebo. Gabapentin, hydrocortisone and theophylline have been shown to decrease pain severity scores. Theophylline has also been shown to increase the proportion of participants that report an improvement in pain scores when compared with conventional treatment.There is a lack of conclusive evidence for the other drugs assessed (sumatriptan, adrenocorticotropic hormone, pregabalin and cosyntropin).These conclusions should be interpreted with caution, due to the lack of information to allow correct appraisal of risk of bias, the small sample sizes of the studies and also their limited generalisability, as nearly half of the participants were postpartum women in their 30s.