B. Searching for the Evidence: Literature Search Strategies for Identification of Relevant Studies To Answer the Key Questions
To identify the relevant published literature, we will search MEDLINE®, EMBASE®, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, limiting the search to studies conducted in adults from 1990 on. Where possible, we will use existing validated search filters (such as the Clinical Queries Filters in PubMed®). An experienced search librarian will guide all searches. We will supplement the electronic searches with a manual search of citations from a set of key primary and review articles. The reference list for identified pivotal articles will be manually hand-searched and cross-referenced against our library, and additional manuscripts will be retrieved. All citations will be imported into an electronic database (EndNote X4). As a mechanism to ascertain publication bias, we will search clinicaltrials.gov to identify completed but unpublished studies. While the draft report is under peer review, we will update the search and include any eligible studies in the final report. We will use two approaches to identifying relevant gray literature: 1) a request for scientific information packets submitted to device manufacturers and 2) a search of U.S. Food and Drug Administration device registration studies.