Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emergency Medicine pioneered the use of ultrasound at the bedside. All of the Colleges of Emergency Medicine in the Anglo-American system have incorporated Emergency Ultrasound into their training curriculum, and all but ACEM have made training and proficiency mandatory. ⋯ It is a unique procedure that requires a College mandate to overcome the political and financial arguments that have kept it from flourishing in our hospitals. ACEM needs to instate such a mandate.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2016
Clinical impact of a high-sensitivity troponin assay introduction on patients presenting to the emergency department.
Biomarkers are a critical component in the investigation of patients with potential ischaemic heart disease. The proposed benefits of a high-sensitivity troponin (hs-Tn) assay include earlier diagnosis of myocardial infarction. However, the decreased specificity may adversely affect clinical practice. The present study aims to investigate the impact that the introduction of a hs-Tn assay had on patients presenting to the ED. ⋯ Although the introduction of a hs-Tn assay led to an increase in hospital admissions, the unchanged rate of cardiac procedures or final diagnoses of acute myocardial infarction and ischaemic heart disease suggests that the hs-Tn did not improve the detection of these conditions. It remains unclear whether there was a benefit admitting the additional cohort of patients.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2016
Multicenter Study Observational StudyOutcome at 30 days for low-risk chest pain patients assessed using an accelerated diagnostic pathway in the emergency department.
Primary: to determine incidence of 30 day major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in patients discharged from the ED following assessment using an accelerated diagnostic pathway (ADP). Secondary: to determine incidence of 30 day MACE for all ADP patients. ⋯ The ADP supports safe, early discharge of low-risk chest pain patients from the ED.