BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) is widely and equally used by physical therapists in Brazil. As PEDro is considered a key resource to support evidence-based physical therapy, analyses of PEDro usage could reflect the extent of dissemination of evidence-based practice.OBJECTIVE: To describe the usage of PEDro among the five regions of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) and, in more detail, in the South American region and Brazil over a 5-year period.METHOD: PEDro home-page sessions and the number of searches performed were logged for a 5-year period (2010-2014). Absolute usage and relative usage were calculated for each region of the WCPT, each country in the South American region of WCPT, and each Regional Council (CREFITO) in Brazil.RESULTS: Europe had the highest absolute and relative usage among the five regions of the WCPT (971 searches per million-population per year), with the South American region ranked 4th in absolute terms and 3rd in relative terms (486). Within the South American region, Brazil accounted for nearly 60% of searches (755). Analysis at a national level revealed that usage per physical therapist in Brazil is very low across all CREFITOs. The highest usage occurred in CREFITO 6 with 1.3 searches per physical therapist per year.CONCLUSIONS: PEDro is not widely and equally used throughout Brazil. Strategies to promote PEDro and to make PEDro more accessible to physical therapists speaking Portuguese are needed.

There is no consensus about the precise definition of what the cardia is. Although this term is often utilized in the medical literature, it takes on a variety of meanings, depending on the context. For histologists and endoscopists, the cardia is a region of the stomach immediately below the gastroesophageal junction. However, the concepts of gastroesophageal junction used by histologists and endoscopists are not the same as used by anatomists. This junction is histologically defined as the abrupt transition from the nonkeratinized stratified squamous epithelium of the esophagus to simple columnar epithelium and corresponds to the endoscopically defined Z-line. Nevertheless, this epithelial change does not occur exactly in the anatomical transition between the esophagus and stomach, but is situated in the esophagus, 1 or 2 cm above the anatomical transition. Surgeons usually use the term cardia as synonymous with lower esophageal sphincter. From a strictly oncological point of view, the cardia is the region that includes the most distal 5 cm of the esophagus and the most proximal 5 cm of the stomach. Thus, it is easy to see that there is no uniform concept of the cardia. The term cardia needs to be revised as a matter of urgency

No existe concenso sobre una definición precisa de lo que es el cardia. Aunque este término es a menudo utilizado en la literatura médica ha tomado una variedad de significados dependiendo del contexto. Para histólogos y endoscopistas, el cardia es una región del estómago inmediatamente bajo la unión gastroesofágica. Sin embargo, los conceptos de unión gastroesofágica usado por éstos es diferente al de los anatomistas. Esta unión es histológicamente definida como la abrupta transición del epitelio escamoso estratificado no queratinizada del esófago, a un epitelio columnar simple y corresponde a lo que endoscópicamente se define como línea Z. Sin embargo, este cambio epitelial no ocurre exactamente en la transición anatómica entre el esófago y el estómago, pero está situado en el esófago, 1 a 2 cm por encima de la transición anatómica. Generalmente, los cirujanos usan el término cardia como sinónimo de esfínter esofágico inferior. Desde un estricto punto de vista oncológico, el cardia es la región que incluye los más distales 5 cm del esófago y los más proximales 5 cm del estómago. Así, es fácil afirmar que no hay un concepto uniforme del cardia. El término necesita ser urgentemente revisado