1. Comprehensive computer database literature searches were performed using the indexed online databases MEDLINE/PubMed and the Cochrane Library. Lists of cited literature within relevant articles were also screened. The primary intention of the review was to identify prospective randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs, existing any other enquiries systematic reviews and guidelines. In the absence of such evidence, case-control studies, observational studies and case reports were considered.Table 1Grading of recommendations from Guyatt and colleagues [14]Boolean operators and Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) thesaurus keywords were applied as a standardised use of language to unify differences in terminology into single concepts. Appropriate MeSH headings and subheadings for each question were selected and modified based on search results.
The scientific questions posed that led to each recommendation and the MeSH headings applied to each search are listed in Additional file 1. Searches were limited to English language abstracts and human studies, and gender and age were not limited. The time period was limited to the past three years for questions addressed in the 2007 version of the guideline, but no time-period limits were imposed on new searches. Original publications were evaluated for abstracts that were deemed relevant. Original publications were graded according to the levels of evidence developed by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK) [17].
The selection of the scientific enquiries to be addressed in the guideline, screening and grading of the literature to be included and formulation of specific recommendations were performed by members of the Task Force for Advanced Bleeding Care in Trauma, a multidisciplinary, pan-European group of experts with specialties in surgery, anaesthesia, emergency medicine, intensive care medicine and haematology. The core group was formed in 2004 to produce educational material on the care of the bleeding trauma patient [18], on which an update (in 2006) and subsequent review article were based [19]. The task force consisted of the core group, additional experts in haematology and guideline development, and representatives Carfilzomib of relevant European professional societies, including the European Society of Anaesthesiology, the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, the European Shock Society, the European Society of Trauma and Emergency Surgery and the European Society for Emergency Medicine. The European Hematology Association declined the invitation to designate a representative to join the task force.As part of the guideline development process that led to the 2007 guideline, task force members participated in a workshop on the critical appraisal of medical literature.