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Background: The main disadvantages of wearing a compression garment following abdominoplasty are the increase in intra-abdominal pressure and risk of venous stasis. On the one hand, the wearing of garments may increase the risk of venous thromboembolism. On the other hand, it may be beneficial in decreasing edema formation after surgery.Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of compression garments in reducing subcutaneous edema after abdominoplasty.Methods: Thirty-two women aged from 19 to 50 years were selected and randomly allocated to either the garment (n = 16) or no-garment (n = 16) group. All patients underwent abdominoplasty and received 10 sessions of manual lymphatic drainage during the postoperative period. Postoperative edema formation was assessed by perimetry and bioimpedance, and seroma formation was assessed by ultrasound. The statistical tests included Student's t test, mixed linear models, analysis of variance with repeated measures, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, which were performed at a significance level α of 0.05 (p ≤ 0.05).Results: The no-garment group showed a trend toward lower mean waist circumference (WC) at 29 days following abdominoplasty and significantly lower WC after postoperative day 35 compared to values from the garment group (p < 0.001). The mean total body water was slightly lower in the no-garment group than in the garment group 7 days after surgery (p = 0.05).Conclusions: Patients who did not wear a compression garment after abdominoplasty showed less subcutaneous edema formation after 24 days of surgery than those who wore the garment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objective: To study the profile of patients with PSA level between 2.6 and 10.0 ng/ml and submitted to prostate biopsy, determining possible patterns that might lead to a reduction of unnecessary biopsies. Materials and Methods: In the period from 2007 to 2009, a cross-sectional study was developed with 1,282 patients with PSA levels between 2.6 and 10.0 ng/ml, and submitted to prostate biopsy. Results: Cancer prevalence was 28.6%. On average, the patients with positive biopsies were older, with higher PSA levels and density, and smaller prostate volume as compared with the patients with negative biopsies. In the analysis of PSA density, the cancer patients averaged 0.31 ng/ml/cc, while patients with negative results averaged 0.10 ng/ml/cc. Utilizing a cutoff value of 0.15 ng/ml/cc for PSA density as a cancer positiveness criterion, the authors obtained sensitivity of 74% and specificity of 70%. The cutoff value should be reduced to increase the sensitivity. With a cutoff value of 0.09 ng/ml/cc, sensitivity reached 84% (CI 95%: 80-87%), and specificity, 75% (CI 95%: 72-78%). Conclusion: The systematic use of PSA density as an indicator to proceed with the investigation of a patient with biopsy could substantially reduce the amount of unnecessary procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]