During the scoping stage, a search was conducted for guidelines and reports on the websites listed below and on organizations relevant to the topic. Searching for grey literature or unpublished literature was not undertaken. All references sent by stakeholders were considered. Guidelines International Network database (www.g-i-n.net External Web Site Policy) National Guideline Clearing House (www.guideline.gov/ External Web Site Policy) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (www.nice.org.uk External Web Site Policy) National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Program (consensus.nih.gov/ External Web Site Policy) National Library for Health (www.library.nhs.uk/ External Web Site Policy) Health Economic Literature Search Systematic literature searches were also undertaken to identify health economic evidence within published literature relevant to the review questions. The evidence was identified by conducting broad searches relating to specific key areas in the NHS economic evaluation database (NHS EED), the Health Economic Evaluations Database (HEED) and health technology assessment (HTA) databases with no date restrictions. Additionally, the searches were run on MEDLINE and EMBASE, with a specific economic filter to ensure publications that had not yet been indexed by these databases were identified. Studies published in languages other than English were not reviewed. Where possible, searches were restricted to articles published in English language. The search strategies for health economics are included in Appendix D in the full version of the original guideline document. All searches were updated on 12 March 2013. No papers published after this date were considered. Evidence of Effectiveness the Research Fellow: Identified potentially relevant studies for each review question from the relevant search results by reviewing titles and abstracts – full papers were then obtained. Reviewed full papers against pre-specified inclusion/exclusion criteria to identify studies that addressed the review question in the appropriate population and reported on outcomes of interest (see review protocols in Appendix C in the full version of the original guideline document). Inclusion/Exclusion Evidence was searched and assessed according to the review protocols for each clinical question formed. See the review protocols in Appendix C in the full version of the original guideline document for full details. A major consideration in determining the inclusion and exclusion criteria in the protocol was the applicability of the evidence to the guideline population. The population within the scope of the guideline is hospitalized adults, with the exclusion of certain populations from the scope and this is broadly adhered to in most reviews. However, the GDG discussed and decided upon additional inclusion or exclusion criteria for each protocol according to the clinical context of the review question. In areas where evidence was anticipated to be lacking, decisions were made to consider populations or settings not included within this guideline if the GDG considered the evidence as indirectly applicable. Some examples of how this was applied include: Patients who had major cardiac surgery were excluded in intravenous (IV) fluid intervention reviews on types and volumes of fluid but included in the assessment of weight monitoring.
