Can we upset the UPSIT (updating the paediatric surgical instruments trays)?

Comparing surgical trays with redundant instruments with trays with reduced instruments: a cost analysis.

BACKGROUND When prearranged standard surgical trays contain instruments that are repeatedly unused, the redundancy can result in unnecessary health care costs. Our objective was to estimate potential savings by performing an economic evaluation comparing the cost of surgical trays with redundant instruments with surgical trays with reduced instruments ("reduced trays"). METHODS We performed a...

Adopting New International Health Instruments – What Can We Learn From the FCTC?; Comment on “The Legal Strength of International Health Instruments - What It Brings to Global Health Governance?”

This Commentary forms a response to Nikogosian’s and Kickbusch’s forward-looking perspective about the legal strength of international health instruments. Building on their arguments, in this commentary we consider what we can learn from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for the adoption of new legal international health instruments.

How can we end paediatric AIDS?

How can we enhance the value of laboratory tests?

Today, the pressures on the healthcare systems for the controlling of the costs are extreme and all sectors try to demonstrate the value of their services by justifying the activities and expenditures so the value can be describe in terms like quality, efficiency, effectiveness, patient satisfaction, cost effectiveness .The value of the lab testing is generally directed to their costs and the c...

Three-dimensional printing surgical instruments: are we there yet?

BACKGROUND The applications for rapid prototyping have expanded dramatically over the last 20 y. In recent years, additive manufacturing has been intensely investigated for surgical implants, tissue scaffolds, and organs. There is, however, scant literature to date that has investigated the viability of three-dimensional (3D) printing of surgical instruments. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using a fus...