BACKGROUND/AIMS This study was conducted to evaluate whether medical costs can be reduced using endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) instead of conventional surger-ies in patients with early gastric cancer (EGC). METHODS Pa-tients who underwent open gastrectomy (OG), laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy (LAG), and ESD for EGC were recruited from three medical institutions in 2009. For macro-cos...

This paper presents a case study of an early discharge scheme funded by casemix incentives and discusses limitations of a casemix model of funding whereby hospital inpatient care is funded separately from care in other settings. The POSITIVE Rehabilitation program received 151 patients discharged early from hospital in a twelve-month period. Program evaluation demonstrates a 40.9% drop in the a...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE In 2008-2010, the number of foreigners hospitalized due to injuries in Poland ranged from approximately 5-21 thousand. The aim of this study was to analyse the utilization of in-patient services by injured immigrants in 2008-2010, including mode of admission (i.e. referral), mode of discharge, average length of patient stay, seasonality and spatial distribution of hos...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the results of the Protocol for treatment of patients with severe acute pancreatitis. METHODS We consecutively analyzed age, gender, etiology, length of hospital stay, type of treatment and mortality of 37 patients with severe acute pancreatitis from January 2002. RESULTS The patients' ages ranged from 20 to 88 years (average 50 years), 27% were female and 73% male. Me...

BACKGROUND Sleep-wake disturbances are frequently reported following traumatic brain injury (TBI), but they remain poorly documented in the acute stage of injury. Little is known about their origin and evolution. CASE PRESENTATION This study presents the case of a patient in the acute phase of a severe TBI. The patient was injured at work when falling 12 m into a mine and was hospitalized in ...

OBJECTIVE Analysis of clinical and surgical factors in a series of patients subjected to laparoscopic cholecystectomy in an outpatient unit and their relationship with time of discharge and patient acceptance. PATIENTS AND METHOD Eighty one consecutive patients underwent to elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy during year 2002 within S.A.S. (Andalusian Health Service) from a surgical waiting...

BACKGROUND Due to increasing demand and financial constraints, NHS continuing healthcare systems seek to find better ways of forecasting demand and budgeting for care. This paper investigates two areas of concern, namely, how long existing patients stay in service and the number of patients that are likely to be still in care after a period of time. METHODS An anonymised dataset containing in...

BACKGROUND Hip fractures account for 350,000 fractures annually and the projected incidence is expected to exceed 6.3 million by 2050. As the number of hip fractures continues to increase as a result of the aging American population, the importance of limiting and preventing complications is magnified. METHODS This study demonstrated the clinical effects of a continuous fascia iliaca compartm...