Objectives To describe the course of acute low back pain and sciatica and to identify clinically important prognostic factors for these conditions. Design Systematic review. Data sources Searches of Medline, Embase, Cinahl, and Science Citation Index and iterative searches of bibliographies. Main outcome measures Pain, disability, and return to work. Results 15 studies of variable methodological quality were included. Rapid improvements in pain (mean reduction 58% of initial scores), disability (58%), and return to work (82% of those initially off work) occurred in one month. Further improvement was apparent until about three months. Thereafter levels for pain, disability, and return to work remained almost constant. 73% of patients had at least one recurrence within 12 months. Conclusions People with acute low back pain and associated disability usually improve rapidly within weeks. None the less, pain and disability are typically ongoing, and recurrences are common.

Cohort study. To conduct a head-to-head comparison of the responsiveness of pain, disability, and physical impairment measures in patients with low back pain. Pain, disability, and physical impairment measures are routinely measured in clinical practice and clinical research. However, to date, a head-to-head comparison has not been performed. A numerical pain scale (0–10), the 24-item and 2 modified 18-item versions of the Roland Morris questionnaire, the patient specific functional scale, and physical impairment measures were completed by 155 patients with low back pain at baseline and then again after 6 weeks together with an 11-point global perceived effect scale. Responsiveness was evaluated by using effect sizes and t tests, correlating the change scores for each outcome with the global perceived effect score and by calculating the Guyatt responsiveness index. The most responsive outcome proved to be the patient specific functional scale (effect size = 1.6), followed by the numerical pain scale (effect size = 1.3) and 24-item Roland Morris questionnaire (effect size = 0.8). The responsiveness of the two 18-item Roland Morris versions was equal to the 24-item version. However, the physical impairment measures were not very responsive (effect size 0.1–0.6). The ranking of the responsiveness indices was consistent across all statistical analyses. Physical impairments are routinely measured in clinical practice and clinical research, but the lower responsiveness indicates that this approach is not optimal. Our findings suggest that more emphasis should be placed on change in pain and disability scores than on change in physical impairments.

In donation after circulatory death (DCD), (thoraco)abdominal regional perfusion (RP) restores circulation to a region of the body following death declaration. We systematically reviewed outcomes of solid organ transplantation after RP by searching PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane libraries. Eighty-eight articles reporting on outcomes of liver, kidney, pancreas, heart, and lung transplants or donor/organ utilisation were identified. Meta-analyses were conducted when possible. Methodological quality was assessed using National Institutes of Health (NIH)-scoring tools. Case reports (13/88), case series (44/88), retrospective cohort studies (35/88), retrospective matched cohort studies (5/88), and case-control studies (2/88) were identified, with overall fair quality. As blood viscosity and rheology change below 20°C, studies were grouped as hypothermic (HRP, ≤20°C) or normothermic (NRP, >20°C) regional perfusion. Data demonstrate that RP is a safe alternative to in situ cold preservation (ISP) in uncontrolled and controlled DCDs. The scarce HRP data are from before 2005. NRP appears to reduce post-transplant complications, especially biliary complications in controlled DCD livers, compared to ISP. Comparisons for kidney and pancreas with ISP are needed but there is no evidence NRP is detrimental. Additional data on NRP in thoracic organs are needed. Whether RP increases donor or organ utilisation needs further research.

The increased demand for organs has led to the increased usage of “higher risk” kidney and liver grafts. These grafts from donation after circulatory death or expanded criteria donors are more susceptible to preservation injury and have a higher risk of unfavorable outcomes. Dynamic, instead of static, preservation could allow for organ optimization, offering a platform for viability assessment, active organ repair and resuscitation. Ex situ machine perfusion and in situ regional perfusion in the donor are emerging as potential tools to preserve and resuscitate vulnerable grafts. Preclinical findings have ignited clinical organ preservation research that investigates dynamic preservation, its various modes (continuous, preimplantation) and temperatures (hypo‐, sub, or normothermic). This review outlines the current status of dynamic preservation of kidney and liver grafts and describes ongoing research and emerging clinical trials.