Remimazolam for sedation: A protocol for a systematic review with meta-analysis, trial sequential analysis, and GRADE approach.

BACKGROUND: Procedural sedation aims to facilitate a successful diagnostic or therapeutic procedure. The pharmacokinetic properties and pharmacodynamic effects need to be taken into consideration when choosing the ideal sedative. Midazolam and propofol are frequently employed. However, they are associated with respiratory depression with increasing dosage. Also, midazolam has a potentially unpredictable pharmacodynamic response and propofol may cause hypotension and injection site pain. Remimazolam may provide a superior alternative due to its rapid pharmacodynamic profile and insignificant circulatory effects. METHODS: This protocol employs the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. The review aims to assess the beneficial and harmful clinical effects of remimazolam versus placebo or other sedatives in adult patients requiring sedation in relation to a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure, or due to other circumstances. Three primary outcomes are identified: Sedation success rate, respiratory complications, and hemodynamic complications. Six secondary outcomes are identified: among these are quality of recovery and serious adverse events. All randomized trials are included. The search strategy includes six major biomedical databases. Literature screening and data extraction will be performed independently by two authors. Risk of systemic error will be assessed with Risk of Bias 2 Tool. Risk of random error will be assessed with trial sequential analysis. Heterogeneity will be evaluated by appropriate statistical tests. The certainty of the evidence will be judged using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. Meta-analysis will be carried out with Rstudio. A "Summary of Findings" table will be presented with our primary and secondary outcome results. DISCUSSION: The systematic review with up-to-date methodology outlined in this protocol investigates the clinical effects of remimazolam in relation to procedural sedation. The results may guide clinicians in the clinical use of remimazolam.

The impact of inter-laboratory glucose bias on the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus: Comparison of common automated central laboratory methods.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is based exclusively on glucose measurements, which are highly influenced by pre-analytical and analytical factors. Therefore, poor agreement across laboratories may affect the prevalence of GDM. We aimed to determine the inter-laboratory bias of glucose measurements and the impact on GDM prevalence. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study of women (n = 110) referred for second-trimester GDM diagnostics using a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test. Maternal glucose was assessed from venous plasma at fasting, 1 h and 2 h. Venous blood were collected in Fluoride Citrate tubes and frozen. Samples were analyzed at five central laboratories using four different automated glucose Hexokinase methods and GDM prevalence was evaluated according to WHO2013 diagnostic criteria. RESULTS: Maximum inter-laboratory bias was 0.19, 0.30 and 0.27 mmol/L in fasting, 1 h and 2 h samples, respectively. GDM prevalence ranged 30.0-41.1% across laboratories. CONCLUSION: Inter-laboratory bias for mean venous glucose was low and within desirable limits. Nonetheless, the impact on GDM prevalence was considerable, which may inappropriately affect clinical practice.