Anticonvulsants for preventing mortality and morbidity in full term newborns with perinatal XXXX .

@entity1 @entity410 @entity245 @entity1763 @entity204
OBJECTIVES: To assess the benefits and harm of administering anticonvulsants to @entity1 of 37 weeks gestation or more following perinatal @entity1763 with the primary aims of prevention of @entity204 or subsequent severe @entity245 and/or the prevention of @entity410 . SEARCH STRATEGY: Relevant randomised controlled trials were identified using a combination of electronic database searches (MEDLINE and EMBASE), hand searches and a search of the Cochrane Controlled Trials Registry. SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomised, or quasi-randomised, controlled clinical trials with reported data comparing the following outcomes: mortality, @entity245 , neonatal @entity410 and adverse events, following anticonvulsant therapy in term @entity1 (37 weeks or more), compared to controls with or without placebo, following perinatal @entity1763 . DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Methodological quality and validity of studies were assessed without consideration of the results. Data relevant to the outcome were extracted and analysed. MAIN RESULTS: Five randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials which met the selection criteria were identified. No studies were of sufficient methodological quality and size to demonstrate a valid, clinically significant change in the risk of mortality or severe @entity245 . A meta-analysis combining three studies comparing barbiturates with conventional therapy following perinatal @entity1763 demonstrated no difference in risks of @entity204 , severe @entity245 , or @entity204 or severe @entity245 . REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: At the present time, anticonvulsant therapy to term @entity1 in the immediate period following perinatal @entity1763 cannot be recommended for routine clinical practice, other than in the treatment of prolonged or frequent clinical @entity410 . Any future studies should be of high quality: randomised control trials with allocation concealment, performance and outcome assessment blinding. Such studies should be of sufficient size, with minimal attrition, to have the power to detect clinically important reductions in mortality and severe @entity245 , as the primary outcome measures.
