Systematic review of the evidence for the etiology of adult sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Objectives/hypothesis: To determine the evidence for different etiologies of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) identified by clinical diagnostic tests in the adult population.

Study Design: Systematic literature review.

Methods: Review of MEDLINE (1950-October 2009), EMBASE (1980-October 2009), and EBM Review databases in addition to manual reference search of identified papers.

Meta-analysis: prophylactic drainage and bleeding complications in thyroid surgery.

Objective: To conduct a comprehensive systematic review and high-quality meta-analysis to determine whether prophylactic drain placement reduces adverse bleeding events in thyroid surgery.

Data Sources: MEDLINE (OVID and PubMed), CENTRAL, CDSR, ACP Journal Club, DARE, EMBASE, PREMEDLINE, OLDMEDLINE, CINAHL, BIOSIS Previews, LILACS, KOREAMED, SAMED, IndMED, SIGLE, ScienceDirect, and INGENTACONNECT.

Review Methods: Studies for evaluation included all prospective trials assessing the use of drainage in thyroid surgery.