In a one year period we studied 98 liver patients consecutively admitted to the III Department of Internal Medicine, Federico II University, Naples, Italy. Among them we selected 25 patients affected by biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis or liver cirrhosis, virus-related, according to the following inclusion criteria: male sex, age < 60 years, body mass index (BMI) [...]

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To the authors’ knowledge, this decision-tree model based on the IDSA guideline is the first to be created for Canada. However, its limitations and assumptions may limit its clinical utility. Overall, the decision model presented here may repre­sent an oversimplification of the complexity of treatment of diabetic foot infections, and a model based on guidelines [...]

Continue reading " Pharmacoeconomic Analysis of Guidelines for Treating Mild Diabetic Foot Infections: DISCUSSION "

Data on probability of clinical success were obtained from RCTs, but the quality of these studies was weak, and the total number of patients in the studies used to construct the model was very small (Table 2). Also, some studies had patients with diabetic foot infections only as a subgroup, and the results may not [...]

Continue reading " Pharmacoeconomic Analysis of Guidelines for Treating Mild Diabetic Foot Infections: RESULTS "

Data Analysis The analysis was conducted on an intention-to-treat basis: all costs and outcomes were ascribed to the initial drug used, regardless of downstream events. The economic outcome was the expected cost per patient treated for each regimen (i.e., once started on the antibiotic). Clinical outcomes calculated were the expected rates of success (i.e., the [...]

Continue reading " Pharmacoeconomic Analysis of Guidelines for Treating Mild Diabetic Foot Infections: METHODS part 2 "

Literature Search To obtain an evidence basis for the analysis, a literature search was performed to identify all randomized controlled trials (RCTs; level 1 evidence) dealing with treatment of mild diabetic foot infections. Two researchers (E.V.L., P.M.) independently performed a comprehensive search of the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases using the key terms “diabetes or [...]

Continue reading " Pharmacoeconomic Analysis of Guidelines for Treating Mild Diabetic Foot Infections: METHODS "

One consequence of inadequately managed diabetic foot infections is amputation. Every 30 seconds, somewhere in the world, a lower limb is lost as a complication of diabetes, and the incidence of amputation reportedly ranges from 2.1 to 13.7 per 1000 persons. More than 50% of nontraumatic amputations of the lower extremity involve patients with diabetes.

Continue reading " Pharmacoeconomic Analysis of Guidelines for Treating Mild Diabetic Foot Infections: INTRODUCTION part 2 "

INTRODUCTION Diabetes mellitus and its associated complications cause significant morbidity and mortality, have a negative impact on quality of life, and lead to substantial costs for the health care system.. The prevalence of diabetes worldwide is projected to reach 300 million people by the year 2025. In Canada, more than 2 million people are living [...]

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