EMCurious Practice Changing Research

OBJECTIVES: To determine the sensitivity and specificity of the San Francisco Syncope Rule (SFSR) electrocardiogram (ECG) criteria for determining cardiac outcomes and to define the specific ECG findings that are the most important in patients with syncope. METHODS: A consecutive cohort of emergency department (ED) patients with syncope or near syncope was considered. The treating emergency physicians assessed 50 predictor variables, including an ECG and rhythm assessment...

A shortcut review was carried out to establish whether intraoral ultrasound increased the accuracy of diagnosis and the success of aspiration in adults with suspected peritonsillar abscess (quinsy). Using the reported searches, one paper presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of this best paper are tabulated. It is concluded that emergency physician-performed intraoral ultrasound can reliably diagnose peritonsillar abscess and leads to greater success at aspiration when compared with the traditional landmark technique...

Blood gas analysis is an integral part of the assessment of emergency department (ED) patients with acute respiratory or metabolic disease. Traditionally ABG analyses have been used, but increasingly, emergency clinicians are using venous blood gas (VBG) analyses. This has been challenged, especially by respiratory physicians, as being too inaccurate. This clinical review, using case examples, summarises the evidence supporting use of VBG to guide management decisions. Arteriovenous agreement for pH is such that values are clinically interchangeable and agreement for bicarbonate is also close...

BACKGROUND: Miller laryngoscope blades are preferred for laryngoscopy in infants and children <2 yr of age. Despite their long history, the laryngeal view with the Miller blade size 1 has never been compared with that with the Macintosh (MAC) blade in children. This prospective, single-blinded, randomized study was designed to compare the laryngeal views with the size 1 Miller and MAC blades in children <2 yr. METHODS: With IRB approval, 50 ASA I and II children <2 yr undergoing elective surgery were enrolled...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To review the prognosis of patients with bilateral fixed and dilated pupils secondary to traumatic extradural (epidural) or subdural haematoma who undergo surgery. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed using random effects models. The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and PubMed databases were searched to identify relevant publications. Eligible studies were publications that featured patients with bilateral fixed and dilated pupils who underwent surgical evacuation of traumatic extra-axial haematoma, and reported on the rate of favourable outcome (Glasgow Outcome Score 4 or 5)...

BACKGROUND: The use of ultrasound (US) to diagnose an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has been well studied in the radiology literature, but has yet to be rigorously reviewed in the emergency medicine arena. OBJECTIVES: This was a systematic review of the literature for the operating characteristics of emergency department (ED) ultrasonography for AAA. METHODS: The authors searched PubMed and EMBASE databases for trials from 1965 through November 2011 using a search strategy derived from the following PICO formulation: Patients-patients (18+ years) suspected of AAA...

Heart failure (HF) afflicts nearly 6 million Americans, resulting in one million emergency department (ED) visits and over one million annual hospital discharges. An aging population and improved survival from cardiovascular diseases is expected to further increase HF prevalence. Emergency providers play a significant role in the management of patients with acute heart failure (AHF). It is crucial that emergency physicians and other providers involved in early management understand the latest developments in diagnostic testing, therapeutics and alternatives to hospitalization...

BACKGROUND: Debate exists about the efficacy of β-blockers in myocardial infarction and their required duration of usage in contemporary practice. METHODS: We conducted a MEDLINE/EMBASE/CENTRAL search for randomized trials evaluating β-blockers in myocardial infarction enrolling at least 100 patients. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Analysis was performed stratifying trials into reperfusion-era (> 50% undergoing reperfusion or receiving aspirin/statin) or pre-reperfusion-era trials...

OBJECTIVES: Low-dose ketamine has been used perioperatively for pain control and may be a useful adjunct to intravenous (IV) opioids in the control of acute pain in the emergency department (ED). The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of low-dose ketamine as an adjunct to morphine versus standard care with morphine alone for the treatment of acute moderate to severe pain among ED patients. METHODS: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with three study groups was conducted at a large, urban academic ED over a 10-month period...

IMPORTANCE: Chest radiography (chest x-ray [CXR] and chest computed tomography [CT]) is the most common imaging in blunt trauma evaluation. Unnecessary trauma imaging leads to greater costs, emergency department time, and patient exposure to ionizing radiation. OBJECTIVE To validate our previously derived decision instrument (NEXUS Chest) for identification of blunt trauma patients with very low risk of thoracic injury seen on chest imaging (TICI). We hypothesized that NEXUS Chest would have high sensitivity (>98%) for the prediction of TICI and TICI with major clinical significance...

INTRODUCTION: Intravenous loop diuretics are a cornerstone of therapy in acutely decompensated heart failure (ADHF). We sought to determine if there are any differences in clinical outcomes between intravenous bolus and continuous infusion of loop diuretics. METHODS: Subjects with ADHF within 12 hours of hospital admission were randomly assigned to continuous infusion or twice daily bolus therapy with furosemide. There were three co-primary endpoints assessed from admission to discharge: the mean paired changes in serum creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and reduction in B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP)...

The diagnostic accuracy of emergency department (ED) ocular ultrasonography may be sufficient for diagnosing retinal detachment. We systematically reviewed the literature to determine the diagnostic accuracy of ED ocular ultrasonography for the diagnosis of retinal detachment. This review conformed to the recommendations from the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology statement. An experienced medical librarian searched the following databases from their inception, without language restrictions: Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, Emergency Medical Abstracts, and Google Scholar...

IMPORTANCE: Although the benefit of reducing blood pressure for primary and secondary prevention of stroke has been established, the effect of antihypertensive treatment in patients with acute ischemic stroke is uncertain. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether immediate blood pressure reduction in patients with acute ischemic stroke would reduce death and major disability at 14 days or hospital discharge. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The China Antihypertensive Trial in Acute Ischemic Stroke, a single-blind, blinded end-points randomized clinical trial, conducted among 4071 patients with nonthrombolysed ischemic stroke within 48 hours of onset and elevated systolic blood pressure...

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a commonly diagnosed infection in older adults. Despite consensus guidelines developed to assist providers in diagnosing UTI, distinguishing symptomatic UTI from asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in older adults is problematic, as many older adults do not present with localized genitourinary symptoms. This article summarizes the recent literature and guidelines on the diagnosis and management of UTI and ASB in older adults.

The RUSH exam (Rapid Ultrasound in SHock examination), presented in this article, represents a comprehensive algorithm for the integration of bedside ultrasound into the care of the patient in shock. By focusing on a stepwise evaluation of the shock patient defined here as "Pump, Tank, and Pipes," clinicians will gain crucial anatomic and physiologic data to better care for these patients.

OBJECTIVES: Acute dyspnea is a common presenting complaint to the emergency department (ED), and point-of-care (POC) lung ultrasound (US) has shown promise as a diagnostic tool in this setting. The primary objective of this systematic review was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of US using B-lines in diagnosing acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema (ACPE) in patients presenting to the ED with acute dyspnea. METHODS: A systematic review protocol adhering to Cochrane Handbook guidelines was created to guide the search and analysis, and we searched the following databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews...

Patients presenting to the emergency department with bite injuries to the hand sustain them through a number of causes including domesticated as well as stray animal bites, and human bites commonly sustained as a result of violence. The nature of the injuries sustained can be very deceptive. A small tooth mark on the exterior can be a fulminant infection in the tissues deeper down. Tendon injuries, fractures of the metacarpals and phalanges and management of the wound are critical issues faced by a surgeon in dealing with such patients...

BACKGROUND: The traditional intraoral manual reduction of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dislocations is time consuming, difficult, and at times ineffective, and commonly requires conscious sedation. OBJECTIVES: We describe a novel technique for the reduction of acute nontraumatic TMJ dislocations in the emergency department (ED). METHODS: This study was a prospective convenience sample population during a 3-year period at two university teaching-hospital EDs where acute nontraumatic TMJ dislocations were reduced utilizing our syringe technique...

BACKGROUND: The practice of avoiding cephalosporin administration to penicillin-allergic patients persists despite the low rate of cross reactions between both groups of antibiotics. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this literature review is to evaluate the published evidence regarding the commonly held belief that patients with a history of an allergic reaction to penicillin have a significantly increased risk of an allergic reaction to cephalosporins. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Articles were identified through a computerized search of MEDLINE from 1950 to the present using the search terms "penicillin$," "cephalosporin$," "allerg$," "hypersensitivity," and "cross-react$...