Guideline on Treatment of Patients with Severe and Multiple ... - AWMF

S3 <strong>Guideline</strong> on Treatment of Patients with Severe and Multiple Injuries
B Methods
The guideline project was first announced in December 2004 and again in May 2009.
The guideline on the “Treatment of multiply injured patients and those with severe injuries” was
developed according to a binding process with a structured plan. It is the result of a systematic
literature search and critical evaluation of the evidence from available data using scientific
methods as well as discussion with experts in a formal consensus procedure.
B.1 Literature search and selection of evidence
The key questions for the systematic literature search and evaluation were formulated on the
basis of preliminary work during 2005. The literature searches were carried out in the MEDLINE
database (via PubMed) using medical keywords (Medical Subject Headings/MeSH), partly
supplemented by a free text search. The filter recommended in PubMed was used to identify
systematic reviews. Supplementary searches were conducted in the Cochrane Library
(CENTRAL) (in this case with keywords and text words in the title and abstract). The
publication period selected was 1995-2010, and German and English as the publication
languages.
The literature searches were carried out partly by the Institute for Research in Operative
Medicine (IFOM) and partly by the authors themselves. The results of the literature searches,
sorted according to topic, were forwarded to the individual authors responsible for each topic.
The underlying key questions, the literature searches carried out with date and number of hits
and, if applicable, search limitations were documented and can be found in the appendix to the
separate Methods Report.
Selection and evaluation of the relevant literature
The authors of each chapter selected and evaluated the literature included in the guideline. This
was carried out according to the criteria of evidence-based medicine. Sufficient randomization,
allocation concealment, blinding and the statistical analysis were taken into account.
The evidence statement for the recommendations was based on the evidence classification of the
Oxford Center of Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM), March 2009 version. In formulating the
recommendations, priority was given to studies with the highest level of evidence available
(LoE).
- 7 -