Clinical therapeutics
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Clinical therapeutics · Jul 2004
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialEffects of granisetron in the treatment of nausea and vomiting after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a dose-ranging study.
Patients undergoing general anesthesia for laparoscopic cholecystectomy are at high risk for postoperative emetic symptoms (nausea, vomiting, and retching). Antihistamines, butyrophenones, dopamine receptor antagonists, and selective serotonin receptor antagonists (SSRAs) have been investigated for the prevention and treatment of emetic symptoms. However, these drugs are associated with undesirable adverse effects (AEs), such as excessive sedation, hypotension, dry mouth, dysphoria, hallucinations, and extrapyramidal signs. Granisetron hydrochloride is a newer SSRA developed for the prevention and treatment of cytotoxic drug-induced emetic symptoms, but its effects in postoperative laparoscopic cholecystectomy have not been studied. ⋯ Granisetron 20 microg/kg was the minimum effective dose for the treatment of established postoperative emetic symptoms in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Increasing the dose to 80 microg/kg provided no further benefit.
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Clinical therapeutics · Jul 2004
Management patterns and outcomes of patients with venous thromboembolism in the usual community practice setting.
The objectives of this study were to observe a commercially insured sample diagnosed with a venous thromboembolism (VTE) event and treated postevent with warfarin and to detail the thromboembolic and bleeding outcomes in the time periods during warfarin therapy and after discontinuation of such therapy. ⋯ Negative outcomes associated with warfarin therapy-recurrent VTE events and bleeding requiring hospitalization-were experienced by 10.7% and 5.8% of patients, respectively. These data suggest that negative outcomes may be more prevalent in usual community medical practice compared with rates observed in the controlled environment of the clinical trial or specialized anticoagulation clinic.
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Clinical therapeutics · Jul 2004
Assessing satisfaction with pain medication in primary care patients: development and psychometric validation of a new measure.
The measurement of patient satisfaction with pain medication (SPM) is a potentially useful aid for health care decision-making, but no validated measures for SPM are known. ⋯ The SPM questionnaire appears to have good acceptability as well as satisfactory psychometric properties, based on these analyses.