Perception of Medical Students on the Need for End-of-Life Care: A Q-Methodology Study.

End-of-life care and the limitation of therapeutic effort are among the most controversial aspects of medical practice. Many subjective factors can influence decision-making regarding these issues. The Q methodology provides a scientific basis for the systematic study of subjectivity by identifying different thought patterns.

Meta-analysis of the effects of normal saline on mortality in intensive care.

Introduction And Objective: To evaluate, by means of a meta-analysis, the effect of normal saline on mortality in intensive care patients, when compared with the use of balanced crystalloids.

Material And Method: Published controlled clinical trials, randomised and sequential prospective studies in time, evaluating the mortality when physiological saline was used in patients admitted to intensive care units. Electronic search was performed in Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, ISI Proceedings, and Web of Science, as well as a manual search of selected references.