Timing and incidence of postoperative infections associated with blood transfusion: analysis of 1,489 orthopedic and cardiac surgery patients.

Background: Transfusion rates remain high in cardiac and orthopedic surgery and differ widely across physician practices in spite of growing knowledge that allogeneic blood transfusion (ABT) is associated with a risk of postoperative infection.

Methods: This prospective observational study compared the timing and incidence of ABT-associated postoperative infections (PIs) in 1,489 orthopedic or cardiac surgery patients at nine hospitals.

Results: Of 455 cardiovascular and 1,034 orthopedic surgery patients, 415 (55.

Challenges in the transition to model-based development.

Practitioners of the art and science of pharmacometrics are well aware of the considerable effort required to successfully complete modeling and simulation activities for drug development programs. This is particularly true because of the current, ad hoc implementation wherein modeling and simulation activities are piggybacked onto traditional development programs. This effort, coupled with the failure to explicitly design development programs around modeling and simulation, will continue to be an important obstacle to the successful transition to model-based drug development.

The cost-effectiveness of cefepime plus metronidazole versus imipenem/cilastatin in the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infection.

Background: Our objective was to compare the economic benefits of cefepime plus metronidazole with those of imipenem/cilastatin in the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infections.

Methods: We used a retrospective analysis of clinical outcomes and health resource utilization data collected during a randomized, double-blind, multi-center clinical trial. Seventeen university-affiliated hospitals in the United States and Canada participated, as did 323 patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections.

Eliminating intensive postoperative care in same-day surgery patients using short-acting anesthetics.

Background: A multidisciplinary effort was undertaken to determine whether patients could safely bypass the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) after same-day surgery by moving to an earlier time point evaluation of recovery criteria.

Methods: A prospective, outcomes research study with a baseline month, an intervention month, and a follow-up month was designed. Five surgical centers (three community-based hospitals and two freestanding ambulatory surgical centers) were utilized.