Alosetron versus traditional pharmacotherapy in clinical practice: effects on resource use,health-related quality of life,safety and symptom improvement in women with severe diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome

Objective: Severe diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) is associated with decreased health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and increased health care costs. Treatment recommendations for IBS-D often start with traditional pharmacotherapy (TP), with escalation to alosetron, rifaximin or eluxadoline if there is no success. There has been no previous head-to-head clinical trial comparing IBS-D treatment outcome for alosetron versus TP. This study, GSK protocol S3B30020, evaluated resource use, work productivity, health-related quality of life and global symptom response in women with IBS-D who were treated with alosetron or TP.

Methods: A total of 1956 patients who met criteria for severe IBS-D were randomized to treatment with alosetron 1?mg twice daily (BID) or only TP for up to 24 weeks. Work productivity and resource use were evaluated by standard questionnaires, HRQOL by the IBSQOL instrument and IBS symptoms by the Global Improvement Scale (GIS).

Results: Compared to only TP, alosetron-treated patients reported: (1) fewer clinic/office visits for any health problem (p?=?.0181) or for IBS-D (p?=?.0004); (2) reduced use of over-the-counter medications for IBS-D (p < .0001); (3) fewer days of lost work productivity (p < .0001); (4) decreased restriction of social and outdoor activities (p < .0001); and (5) greater global improvement in IBS-D symptoms (p < .0001). Alosetron treatment improved HRQOL scores for all domains (p < .0001). Incidence of adverse events during alosetron use was not remarkable and was similar to that previously reported.

Conclusions: Alosetron 1?mg BID significantly reduced health care utilization and lost productivity, and significantly improved global IBS symptoms, HRQOL, and participation in outdoor and social activities compared with treatment response to TP.     

A Quality and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Dialyzer Reuse in Hemodialysis Patients

Background. To evaluate the benefits of dialyzer reuse for hemodialysis (HD) patients, including the cost of HD treatment and patient's survival, a comparison was made regarding the standard practice of single-use dialysis. Methods. From January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2005, a total of 128,232 successive HD treatments in 822 patients in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center were included in this study. Results. Approximately 54.25% (446/822) of patients reused dialyzers. The average times of dialyzer reuse was 2.54. The annual hollow fiber cost is reduced by $241,054.08 U.S. dollars (NT $7,834,257.60). The annual cost of hollow fiber was reduced by $540.48 U.S. dollars (NT $17,565.60) in one patient with dialyzer reuse. The mortality rates in dialyzer reuse and single use groups were 3.1% and 10.9% within one year (p < 0.0001). Multiple logistic regressions showed that single use compared with reuse was associated with higher mortality after adjusting co-morbid conditions including age, diabetes mellitus, etc. Conclusions. We concluded that the benefits of dialyzer reuse included safety in our center and reduction in cost during a 12-month period. Dialyzer reuse may be a safe alternative.     

内镜下经口入路颌下腺切除术的临床分析

目的探讨内镜辅助经口入路颌下腺切除的有效性、安全性和可行性。方法经鼻插管全麻后，沿颌下腺导管开口至磨牙后区的下颌舌颌沟做弧形切口，内镜辅助下分别沿下颌下腺导管，切断与颌下腺有关的神经、血管、导管，将颌下腺切除。结果5例患者均顺利切除颌下腺，1例出现暂时性舌体麻木，2周后恢复。无面神经下颌缘支及舌下神经损伤,无其他并发症。颈部无瘢痕，美容效果好。结论内镜辅助下经口入路颌下腺切除术安全、可行，值得临床推广应用。