Foot orthoses in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: There is limited evidence supporting the podiatric treatment of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). This multicentre randomised controlled trial aimed to determine whether preformed foot orthoses (FOs) impacted on pain and quality of life (QoL) in children with JIA.

Methods: Eligible children were randomised to receive either 'fitted' FOs with customised chair-side corrections or 'control' FOs made without corrections.

Prophylactic intravenous indomethacin for preventing mortality and morbidity in preterm infants.

Background: Persistent patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is associated with mortality and morbidity in preterm infants. Prostaglandin synthetase inhibitors such as indomethacin promote PDA closure but also have potential side effects. The effect of the prophylactic use of indomethacin, where infants who may not have gone on to develop a symptomatic PDA would be exposed to indomethacin, warrants particular scrutiny.

Communicating with parents on the neonatal unit.

Should we be doing more than just talking?

Towards safer diagnosis in clinical practice - understanding and using diagnostic tests in the neonatal unit more appropriately.

The diagnostic process is a complex task that is more often than not done inherently by clinicians. However, it is in fact based around quantitative risk assessment and, as a result, when done intuitively is open to a significant risk of bias. By adopting a more structured and quantitative approach to diagnosis, clinicians might be in a position to make better diagnostic decisions.