Towards evidence based emergency medicine: Best BETs from the Manchester Royal Infirmary. BET 1: Is exercise-related transient abdominal pain (stitch) while running preventable?

: A short cut review was carried out to establish whether drinking fluids was better than not drinking fluids at preventing exercise associated abdominal pain (stitch) in runners. 112 papers were found using the reported searches, of which 2 presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. It is concluded that drinking fluids before running is associated with stitch.