Systematic reviews published in the October 2011 issue of the Cochrane library

The Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews is published quarterly as a DVD but monthly online. The October 2011 issue (4th DVD for 2011) contains 4791 complete reviews, 2067 protocols for reviews in production, and 15,950 short summaries of systematic reviews published in the general medical literature. In addition, there are citations of 661,000 randomized controlled trials, and almost 15,000 cited papers in the Cochrane methodology register. The health technology assessment database contains just over 10,500 citations. Ninety-six new reviews have been published in the last 3 months, of which seven have potential relevance for practitioners in pain and palliative medicine. The impact factor of the Cochrane Library stands at 6.186. Readers are encouraged to access the full report for any articles of interest as only a brief commentary is provided.