Patient safety and emergency

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: In this review, we describe the FDA-approved and investigational devices and endoscopic bariatric therapies for the treatment of obesity. We focus on literature published in the past few years and present mechanisms of action as well as efficacy and safety data. RECENT FINDINGS: Devices and endoscopic procedures are emerging options to fill the significant treatment gap in the management of obesity. Not only are these devices and procedures minimally invasive and reversible, but they are potentially more effective than antiobesity medications, often safer for poor surgical candidates and possibly less expensive than bariatric surgery...

OBJECTIVE: This study analysed differences in the perceived patient safety climate among different working departments and job types in public general hospitals in China. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Eighteen tertiary hospitals and 36 secondary hospitals from 10 areas in Shanghai, Hubei Province and Gansu Province, China. PARTICIPANTS: Overall, 4753 staff, including physicians, nurses, medical technicians and managers, were recruited from March to June 2015...

BACKGROUND: Data are lacking on how emergency medicine (EM) malpractice cases with resident involvement differs from cases that do not name a resident. OBJECTIVES: To compare malpractice case characteristics in cases where a resident is involved (resident case) to cases that do not involve a resident (non-resident case) and to determine factors that contribute to malpractice cases utilizing EM as a model for malpractice claims across other medical specialties. METHODS: We used data from the Controlled Risk Insurance Company (CRICO) Strategies' division Comparative Benchmarking System (CBS) to analyze open and closed EM cases asserted from 2009-2013...

Findings from this qualitative study may help improve sustainability. ABSTRACT: Purpose: This study aimed to address the knowledge gap between implementing and sustaining evidencebased fall prevention practices for hospitalized patients by exploring perspectives of the interprofessional health care team. DESIGN: A qualitative design was used to capture insights from clinicians across disciplines in a large midwestern academic medical center. METHODS: Four homogenous semistructured focus groups and three individual interviews involving a total of 20 clinicians were conducted between October 2013 and March 2014...

To provide an overview of the literature that considers physiotherapists working in the ED in relation to their roles, training levels, patient profile, safety, effectiveness, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and the provision of low-value care. We performed a scoping review of the literature. Four databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL and Cochrane CENTRAL) were searched from their inception to December 2016 and we updated searches on PubMed in September 2017. Two reviewers independently screened studies for eligibility...

Apatinib [AiTan™ (China); Rivoceranib® (global)] is a novel, small molecule, selective vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) tyrosine kinase inhibitor and is the second anti-angiogenic drug to be approved in China for the treatment of advanced or metastatic gastric cancer. This article summarizes the pharmacological properties of apatinib and reviews its clinical use in chemotherapy-experienced patients with advanced gastric adenocarcinoma, including gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (GEA), or with other advanced cancers such as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), breast cancer, gynaecological cancers, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), thyroid cancer and sarcomas...

Background: Laparoscopic liver resection has been gaining momentum, and it has become an accepted practice after the two international consensus conferences where experts worked up guidelines to standardize this approach and improve its safety. However, most laparoscopic hepatectomies were performed in patients with liver metastases. The concurrent presence of liver cirrhosis with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) poses a great challenge to clinicians trying to establish a routine use of laparoscopic liver resection for HCC...

Methoxyflurane delivered via a hand-held inhaler is a proven analgesic which has been used in Australasia for emergency relief of trauma associated pain since the 1970s. The agent is self-administered by the patient under the supervision of trained personnel. More than 5 million patients have received inhaled methoxyflurane without significant side effects. Methoxyflurane is also licensed in Australasia for the relief of pain in monitored conscious patients requiring analgesia for minor surgical procedures...

Background Migraine with aura may mimic an acute ischemic stroke, so that an improper administration of thrombolytic treatment can expose migrainous patients to severe adverse effects. Methods This systematic review quantifies the relevance of migraine with aura among stroke mimics, checking for thrombolysis' safety in these patients. We reviewed the literature after 1995, distinguishing from studies dealing with stroke mimics treated with systemic thrombolysis and those who were not treated with systemic thrombolysis...

BACKGROUND: Phase 2 psoriasis studies with the Fc-free, PEGylated, anti-tumor necrosis factor biologic certolizumab pegol demonstrated meaningful clinical activity. OBJECTIVE: Assess safety and efficacy of certolizumab in adults with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. METHODS: Patients were randomized 3:3:1:3 to certolizumab 400 mg, 200 mg, or placebo every 2 weeks for 16 weeks or etanercept 50 mg twice-weekly for 12 weeks. Certolizumab-treated patients achieving ≥75% reduction in psoriasis area and severity index at Week 16 were re-randomized to certolizumab or placebo for 32 weeks...

BACKGROUND: Certolizumab pegol, the only Fc-Free, PEGylated anti-tumor necrosis factor biologic, demonstrated clinically meaningful improvements and suggested a positive risk-benefit balance in phase 2 studies in adults with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. OBJECTIVE: Assess certolizumab efficacy and safety versus placebo in phase 3 studies. METHODS: Patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis were randomized 2:2:1 to certolizumab 400 mg, 200 mg, or placebo every 2 weeks...

AIMS: This study compared the efficacy and safety of aripiprazole/sertraline combination (ASC) and placebo/sertraline combination (PSC) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) who showed an inadequate response to sertraline 100 mg/day. METHODS: The study comprised a screening period, an 8-week prospective treatment (single-blind sertraline 25-100 mg/day) period, and a 6-week double-blind treatment period. Patients with DSM-5-defined MDD were enrolled. Following the prospective treatment, non-responders were randomly assigned to the ASC group (aripiprazole 3-12 mg/day/sertraline 100 mg/day) or the PSC group (sertraline 100 mg/day)...

A growing body of literature suggests that ketamine, administered in subanesthetic doses, has early-onset antidepressant action in patients with severe and even treatment-refractory depression. Many case reports, open-label studies, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) suggest that ketamine may have dramatic antisuicidal effects, as well. This article examines the benefits of ketamine in patients with suicidal ideation with particular focus on the findings of recent RCTs and meta-analyses. Important findings are that a single dose of ketamine is associated with antisuicidal benefits that emerge within an hour of administration and persist for up to a week...

Objective: The aim of this study was to monitor the activity and evaluate the clinical safety of a minor eye conditions scheme (MECS) conducted by accredited community optometrists in Lambeth and Lewisham, London. Methods and analysis: Optometrists underwent an accredited training programme, including attendance at hospital eye services (HES) clinics. Patients who satisfied certain inclusion criteria were referred to accredited MECS optometrists by their general practitioners (GPs) or could self-refer...

BACKGROUND: Periprocedural anticoagulation is important in catheter ablation (CA) of atrial fibrillation (AF) and there is increasing evidence that uninterrupted vitamin K antagonist (VKA) therapy is superior to interrupted anticoagulation strategies. Since the emergence of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), numerous studies have shown promising results for their use in uninterrupted strategies. However, further studies are needed to further define the efficacy and safety of performing AF ablation with uninterrupted factor XA inhibitors or direct thrombin inhibitors...

INTRODUCTION: Sucroferric oxyhydroxide (SFOH) is a non-calcium, iron-based phosphate binder that demonstrated sustained serum phosphorus (sP) control, good tolerability, and lower pill burden, vs. sevelamer carbonate ("sevelamer"), in a Phase 3 study conducted in dialysis patients with hyperphosphatemia. This analysis evaluates the efficacy and safety of SFOH and sevelamer among African American (AA) patients participating in the trial. METHODS: Post hoc analysis of a 24-week, Phase 3, open-label trial (NCT01324128) and its 28-week extension study (NCT01464190)...

Accurate assessment of the pregnant patient in the ED depends on knowledge of physiological changes in pregnancy, and how these changes may impact on pathology tests, appearance on point-of-care ultrasound and electrocardiography. In addition the emergency physician needs to be cognisant of disorders that are unique to or more common in pregnancy. Part 1 of this review addresses potential deviations in laboratory investigation reference intervals resulting from physiological alterations in pregnancy, and the important causes of abnormal laboratory results in pregnancy...

BACKGROUND: Hypertension (HTN) is an established class effect of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) inhibition. In the phase 3 Study of (E7080) Lenvatinib in Differentiated Cancer of the Thyroid (SELECT) trial, HTN was the most frequent adverse event of lenvatinib, an inhibitor of VEGFR1, VEGFR2, VEGFR3, fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1), FGFR2, FGFR3, FGFR4, platelet-derived growth factor receptor α (PDGFRα), ret proto-oncogene (RET), and stem cell factor receptor (KIT)...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term effects of adjunctive perampanel on cognition, efficacy, growth, safety, and tolerability in adolescents with inadequately controlled partial seizures. METHODS: Study 235, a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, Phase II study with an open-label extension phase (NCT01161524), was primarily designed to assess the effects of adjunctive perampanel on cognition. Patients (aged ≥12 to <18years) had a diagnosis of epilepsy with inadequately controlled partial seizures, with or without secondary generalization, despite receiving 1-3 antiepileptic drugs...

BACKGROUND: Ixekizumab has demonstrated improvement in moderate-to-severe psoriasis patients by selectively targeting interleukin-17A, a pro-inflammatory cytokine important in psoriasis pathogenesis. OBJECTIVE: To report 4-year efficacy and safety results from the open-label extension (OLE) of this phase 2 trial. METHODS: Analysis was by last observation carried forward. Patients received ixekizumab 120 mg then 80 mg subcutaneously once every 4 weeks...