Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2020
Antibiotic prescribing in patients who presented to the emergency department with dog bites: A descriptive review of current practice.
To describe the current practice of prophylactic antibiotic prescribing for patients presenting to the ED with a dog bite, and compare management against existing guidelines. ⋯ Prophylactic antibiotics are extensively used for patients with dog bites. There is scope to rationalise antibiotic use and route of antibiotic administration in patients with dog bites.
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An unconscious patient with an extra-dural haematoma may not survive transfer to a neurosurgical centre for definitive care. This article describes a simple approach to a decompressive craniotomy which may be life-saving in these patients when a neurosurgeon is not available.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2020
Intimate partner violence screening and response in New South Wales emergency departments: A multi-site feasibility study.
To test feasibility of a systematic approach to routine screening and response for intimate partner violence among women presenting to three New South Wales EDs. ⋯ The present study demonstrates that it is both possible and relevant, given the 18% disclosure rate, to screen women in relation intimate partner violence in EDs and provide a psycho-social response within 1 h. More needs to be done to address barriers to screening to provide opportunities for early intervention.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2020
Predictors and in-hospital mortality associated with prolonged emergency department length of stay in New South Wales tertiary hospitals from 2017 to 2018.
To determine specific patient, clinical and service factors associated with increased ED length of stay and investigate whether prolonged ED length of stay, as measured by emergency treatment performance (ETP) non-compliance, is an independent predictor of all cause 30-day mortality for patients presenting to, and admitted from ED. ⋯ Patients with complex and multiple medical comorbidities, and those admitted under certain service-related groups such as psychiatry, surgery and oncology were found to have poorer ETP performance. Overall, failure to meet ETP was associated with increased mortality after adjusting for age, case-mix, comorbidities and acuity.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2020
Predictive values of haematuria and hydronephrosis in suspected renal colic: An emergency department retrospective audit.
To determine the predictive values of haematuria and hydronephrosis in suspected renal colic. ⋯ This audit suggests that a diagnostic strategy relying on the absence of haematuria or hydronephrosis, or both, to rule out ureteric calculi may result in a small number of stones being missed.