TREATMENT WITH TAMSULOSIN IN PATIENTS WITH DISTAL URETERAL CALCULI

Background: Symptomatic ureteral calculi are one of the most important issues in urologist emergency clinical settings. Spontaneous passage of distal ureteral calculi is usually achieved with good hydration and spasmoanalgetic drugs. alpha-blocker therapy may facilitate and accelerate the spontaneous passage of ureteral stones.Patients and methodsIn retrospective study we analyzed patients with renal colic admitted to our department in 2006. All of them had clinical examination, urine and blood analysis, plain radiography (number, size and location of radiopaque calculi) and intravenous pyelography (kidney function and morphology). All patients with distal ureteral calcus were treated with spasmoanalgetics and with or without alpha-adrenergic antagonist tamsulosin. We analyzed eventual spontaneous passage of the calculi, additional procedures (splints, ureterorenoscopy, open procedures, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL)). We used Student's t-test for statistical analysis.Results48 from 72 patients had urinary calculus. 35 (73 %) of them had calculus in the distal part of ureter. 17 (49 %) of 35 patients with distal ureteral calculus were treated with tamsulosin and in all (100 %) spontaneous stone passage was observed. 18 (51 %) patients were not treated with tamsulosin and spontaneous passage was observed in 18 (65 %) patients (p = 0.000).ConclusionsTamsulosin therapy promotes expulsion of ureteral stones

A systematic review of studies measuring health-related quality of life of general injury populations

Background. It is important to obtain greater insight into health-related quality of life (HRQL) of injury patients in order to document people's pathways to recovery and to quantify the impact of injury on population health over time. We performed a systematic review of studies measuring HRQL in general injury populations with a generic health state measure to summarize existing knowledge. Methods. Injury studies (1995-2009) were identified with main inclusion criteri

EQ-5D in Central and Eastern Europe : 2000-2015

Objective: Cost per quality-adjusted life year data are required for reimbursement decisions in many Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. EQ-5D is by far the most commonly used instrument to generate utility values in CEE. This study aims to systematically review the literature on EQ-5D from eight CEE countries. Methods: An electronic database search was performed up to July 1, 2015 to identify original EQ-5D studies from the countries of interest. We analysed the use of EQ-5D with respect to clinical areas, methodological rigor, population norms and value sets. Results: We identified 143 studies providing 152 country-specific results with a total sample size of 81,619: Austria (n=11), Bulgaria (n=6), Czech Republic (n=18), Hungary (n=47), Poland (n=51), Romania (n=2), Slovakia (n=3) and Slovenia (n=14). Cardiovascular (20%), neurologic (16%), musculoskeletal (15%) and endocrine/nutritional/metabolic diseases (14%) were the most frequently studied clinical areas. Overall 112 (78%) of the studies reported EQ VAS results and 86 (60%) EQ-5D index scores, of which 27 (31%) did not specify the applied tariff. Hungary, Poland and Slovenia have population norms. Poland and Slovenia also have a national value set. Conclusions: Increasing use of EQ-5D is observed throughout CEE. The spread of health technology assessment activities in countries seems to be reflected in the number of EQ-5D studies. However, improvement in informed use and methodological quality of reporting is needed. In jurisdictions where no national value set is available, in order to ensure comparability we recommend to apply the most frequently used UK tariff. Regional collaboration between CEE countries should be strengthened