Acta Medica Port
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For elective surgeries over ordering of blood is a common practice. The goal of the Maximum Surgical Blood Order Schedule (MSBOS) is to promote efficient use of blood. ⋯ As in other Blood Banks, the differences are more evident in the situations in which the need for blood is very small, the so called Type and Screen. MSBOS should be re-evaluated regularly because of operative environment such as surgeons, operative methods, haemostatic drugs and preoperative conditions of patients can change.
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Prostate cancer is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. In Portugal alone, according to a study published in 2003, the rate of new prostate cancer cases were 53 per 100,000 men (in 2000), with an age-standardized mortality rate of about 28 per 100,000 (in 1995). Multiple bone metastases are one of the major complications of advanced prostate cancer. Samarium-EDTMP showed to be a safe and effective alternative for palliative treatment of bone metastases. The goal of this economic study is to assess the cost-effectiveness of Samarium-153-EDTMP for the treatment of pain due to multiple bone metastases in hormone-refractory prostate cancer versus conventional pain therapy, in Portugal. ⋯ Samarium-153-EDTMP was not only a very effective therapeutic option but also an option with less cost than the conventional pain therapy, in patients with pain due to multiple bone metastases, in Portugal.