EJPRM systematic continuous update on Cochrane reviews in rehabilitation: news from the 4th Issue 2009.

Background: Since 2007 we focused our attention as EJPRM to the best available clinical evidence offered by the Cochrane Collaboration. Due to the absence of a specific Rehabilitation Group (only a field exists), reviews of PRM interest are in different groups and not easy to find. Consequently, the EJPRM lists and presents all these reviews systematically.
Aim: The aim of the present paper is to systematically review all the new rehabilitation papers published in the Cochrane Library 4th Issue 2009 in order to provide to physicians involved in the field a summary of the best evidence nowadays available.
Methods: The author systematically searched all the new papers of rehabilitative interest in the Cochrane Library 4th Issue 2009. The retrieved papers have been divided in subgroups on the base of the topic and the Cochrane Groups.
Results: The number of included papers was 19: 11 were new reviews. Three new reviews deal with neurological rehabilitation, 6 with musculoskeletal disorders, 3 with pain management. Moreover, 8 reviews have been updated: 4 related to musculoskeletal disorders, 2 to neurological disorders, and 1 to respiratory rehabilitation. All these are listed at the end of the paper.
Conclusion: The Cochrane Collaboration and its product, the Cochrane Library, are really relevant instruments to improve EBM in medical practice and thus also in the Rehabilitation Field. The present paper can help Rehabilitation Specialists to easily retrieve the conclusions of the most relevant and updated reviews in order to change their clinical practice in a more rapid and effective way.