On Doctoring MEDLINE searches, with reference librarian comments, March 2000

The question was

What are some of the risk factors and complications of cesarean section deliveries?

1     Anesthesia, epidural/ or Cesarean section/ or Delivery/    results=10156   
2     1 and complications.mp. [mp=title, abstract, registry    results=1116   
number word, mesh subject heading]
3    exp Cesarean section/ae,td,mo,ut [Adverse Effects, Trends,    results=799   
Mortality, Utilization]
4     3 and complication.mp. [mp=title, abstract, registry number    results=39   
word, mesh subject heading]
5     from 4 keep 2,4,12    results=3   

Reference Librarian comments

Good job. I hope the references you selected were useful. I have a slightly different way to do this search, but before I show you "my way," let me ponder out loud that it seems like a tricky question -- the way you've worded it. (And MEDLINE, being a big computer database, won't be too forgiving if we're fuzzy at all about the question...)

Do we mean: what are those factors which LEAD to the decision to do a c-section? Or do we mean -- what awful sequelae pop up after the c-section is done, or during the procedure? Or do we mean both?

Anyway, the c-section as a procedure does, of course, have some risk to it, and there will be plenty written about that.

A simple search might be this:

exp *cesarean section/ae, mo [Adverse effects, Mortality] 273
limit 1 to (human and english language) 185

... and then one could go from there, either trying to get fewer, or blasting thru the 185 references.

The other question seems a little harder to me, and I can't spend lots of time on it -- but here's one idea:

exp *cesarean section/sn,st,td,ut [statistics & numberical data, standards, trends, utilization] 468
exp decision making 14213
1 and 2 10

Thanks for participating in the assignment.