title: Therapeutic use of albumin.
abstract: Increasing use of normal human serum albumin may be contributing to the rising cost of medical care. To investigate whether albumin is extensively overused or abused, a study of the quality of albumin use was conducted in a Veterans Administration Hospital. Specific criteria for appropriate use were developed using guidelines defined at a national symposium. A review of use during a three-month period showed that surgery patients received 91% of the albumin administered during that period; of the total amount administered, 41% was used inappropriately; the decision to administer albumin to patients undergoing surgery appeared to be correct only 29% of the time; and an estimated $40,000 was spent on inappropriately used albumin at this hospital in 1977.
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006801:Humans; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000191:economics; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D012709:Serum Albumin