Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2021
Trauma by-pass guideline: A data-driven conformance analysis for road trauma cases in Queensland.
Study objectives were to (i) develop and test a whole-of-system method for identifying patients who meet a major trauma by-pass guideline definition; (ii) apply this method to assess conformance to the current 2006 guideline for a road trauma cohort; and (iii) leverage relevant findings to propose improvements to the guideline. ⋯ Overall, the present study found good conformance, with overtriage rate as expected by clinicians. It is recommended to include data values to capture paramedics assessment of trauma level to enable more accurate assessment of conformance to guideline and future revision of the thresholds.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2021
Bacterial infection secondary to Trimeresurus species bites: A retrospective cohort study in a university hospital in Bangkok.
Trimeresurus spp. (green pit viper [GPV]) inhabit several Southeast Asian countries. They account for more than 90% of snake envenomations in Bangkok. GPV venom causes coagulopathy from a thrombin-like effect and thrombocytopaenia. Envenomation can also cause local tissue reactions. The present study primarily aimed to determine the bacterial infection rate from GPV (Trimeresurus spp.) bites. Antibiotic use, microbiology report, and clinical course between those with and without infection were secondary objectives. ⋯ We found a low infection rate from GPV bites even without antibiotics suggesting prophylactic antibiotics should not be routinely prescribed in cases of GPV bite.