(3,4 ± 0,4 mg/kg i.v.), nego u FNB (2,1 ± 0,5 mg/kg i.v.) i FICNB grupi (2,5 ± 0,4 mg/kg i.v.) ABSTRACT Objective. Hip arthroplasty is one of the most common operations in elderly population. Pre-and postoperative risks increase their postoperative morbidity and mortality. One of the most important factors, which is included in the

Background: Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are very often inappropriately prescribed drugs. The aim of this study is to analyse physicians' prescribing patterns for BZD in Republic of Srpska, and to assess to what extent primary diagnosis determine the dose and the length of use of BZDs. Methods: A retrospective analysis of the physicians' prescription habits based on the database of Family Medicine Information Systems of Republic of Srpska, as well as on data from patient's medical record were performed. Patients' socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, including the data on the type and dose of BZDs prescribed, were recorded and evaluated. Results: BZDs were mostly prescribed for anxiety disorders (30.05%), for depressive disorders (17.54%), and for anxiety-depressive disorders (10.86%). A significant amount of BZDs was prescribed for non-psychiatric diagnoses (23.81%). Patients suffering from psychotic disorders were taking the highest dose of BZD and for the longest periods of time (p<0.001). Longer use of BZDs was in women (r=0.04, p<0.001), elderly (r=0.178, p<0.001), single people (r=0.12, p<0.001), those who live in urban areas (r=0.45, p<0.001) and those who were prescribed higher doses (r=0.213, p<0.001). Conclusion:A significant percentage of patients were using the BZDs for longer period of time than recommended. Strongest positive correlation was found between the dose and the length of use, which implies the addictive potential of BZDs. Since it has been noticed that prolonged use, or abuse is present regardless of the diagnosis, precaution is advised when prescribing BZDs even for acute diseases.

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Background/Aim: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a diagnostic challenge, particularly in prehospital care. The aim of this study was to determine to what extent the evaluation of D-dimer value helps physicians with differentiation of PE and whether D-dimer values are in correlation with the values of revised Geneva score. Methods: Data have been collected for the patients whose D-dimer has been evaluated at the Emergency Care Department of the City of Banja Luka in 2018. Gender, age, symptoms, working diagnosis and D-dimer value have all been recorded and also the fact whether the patient was referred to hospital treatment or not. For each patient the revised Geneva score was determined. Results: Sixty-eight tests were done in 2018. Out of 68 tests, 41 were negative (60.3 %). D-dimer results helped in making decisions about referring patients to the hospital or not (χ 2 = 36.32, p < 0.001). Patients with elevated D-dimer levels, especially where the values were four times higher than the refence ones typically were referred to hospital treatment, whereas 67.5% patients with negative D-dimer results were sent home after giving a treatment and advice. In the elderly patients D-dimer was statistically more positive (F = 10.82, p < 0.001). Values of D-dimer were not significantly different regarding gender (χ 2 = 2.19, p = 0.33). According to the results of the revised Geneva score, 5.1 % of patients had high risk of PTE, while moderate and low risk had 47.5 % each. Although it has been found that the values of D-dimer were slightly more elevated at higher values of the revised Geneva score and that the difference was not statistically significant (χ 2 = 7.71, p = 0.10). Conclusion: Values of D-dimer considerably helped in differentiation of PE in the Emergency Care Department. D-dimer has a high negative predictive value and should be used to exclude PE diagnosis for patients with low clinical probability of PE.Key words: D-dimer, pulmonary embolism, revised Geneva score, emergency care department.Pulmonary embolism (PE) is one of the most difficult conditions to diagnose, particularly in the prehospital care. It represents the most serious clinical manifestation of venous thromboembolism (VTE), which represents the third most common cardiovascular disease. [1][2][3][4] The main cause of PE-related deaths is the undiagnosed PE during lifetime (59 %), followed by sudden fatal PE (34 %). It is estimated that only 7 % of patients who died from PE had PE diagnosed on time. 5-7 Frequency of PE is hard to determine because it can sometimes remain asymptomatic and therefore go unsuspected, while on the other hand PE is often accidentally diagnosed as an incidental finding. 8