Don’t perform laboratory tests (including biochemical profile), imaging (chest x-rays, liver and pelvic ultrasound, PET, CT and radionuclide bone scans) or serum cancer markers for asymptomatic patients after surgery for breast cancer, in the absence of clinical signs.
Physical examination (medical examination) should be performed every 3-6 months for the first three years, every 6-12 months for the fourth and fifth year, and annually thereafter. In women undergoing breast-conserving surgery should be performed a bilateral...
Don’t routinely perform stress cardiac imaging test during the initial evaluation of suspected ischemic heart disease.
Stress cardiac imaging test should be performed only when relevant risk factors are present: diabetes in patient older than 4 – years-old, peripheral arterial disease, greater than 20% Framingham risk, or in the presence of EKG modification affecting the...
Avoid excess bone density testing: intervals less than two years are rarely necessary.
DXA bone scan is the procedure of choice in the evaluation of bone density. Periodic standardized assessment is useful to monitor response to treatment, particularly in individuals at major risk of bone loss (e.g. patients on chronic steroid treatment). It is...
Do not routinely request / perform thyroid ultrasound in subjects without signs and / or symptoms of thyroid disease and not belonging to risk groups for thyroid cancer and limit the indication and execution of fine needle aspirations on low-risk nodules.
Thyroid ultrasound is a fundamental test in the diagnosis of thyroid pathologies; its use, however, must take place in an appropriate clinical setting. Small thyroid nodules are very common in the general population and, in most cases, benign. Furthermore, in the last...The campaign DOING MORE DOES NOT MEAN DOING BETTER – CHOOSING WISELY ITALY is promoted by Italy’s Slow Medicine
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