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.