The role of mucoregulatory agents after continence-preserving urinary diversion surgery.

Purpose: The postsurgical use of N-acetylcysteine, octreotide, and other agents to reduce mucus accumulation after urinary diversion procedures is described.

Summary: Patients undergoing continence-sparing bladder resection are at risk for infection and stone formation due to mucus accumulation. In addition to N-acetylcysteine, agents studied for mucoregulatory control in such patients include aspirin, urea, ranitidine, and octreotide.

Economic evaluation in critical care: a focus on severe sepsis in oncology.

Hospital care, physician and clinical services, and prescription drugs continue to drive healthcare expenditures across healthcare systems and nations. The critical-care setting, owing to the complexity and intensity of care, is a high user of the resources that drive healthcare spending. Information regarding the cost and effectiveness of critical-care therapies is necessary to properly guide care and policies for this unique population.