Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
-
Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2022
Randomized Controlled Trial Observational StudyContinued opioid use following an emergency department presentation for low back pain.
To investigate the proportion of patients with low back pain who receive an opioid analgesic prescription on hospital discharge, the proportion using opioid analgesics 4 weeks after discharge, and to identify predictors of continued opioid analgesic use at 4 weeks after an ED presentation in opioid-naïve patients. ⋯ About one-third of patients who present to the ED with low back pain receive an opioid analgesic prescription on discharge and are taking an opioid analgesic 4 weeks later. These findings justify future research to identify strategies to reduce the risk of long-term opioid use in patients who present to the ED with low back pain.
-
Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2022
Sports-related ocular injuries at a tertiary eye hospital in Australia: A 5-year retrospective descriptive study.
To describe the demographics and outcomes of sports-related ocular injuries in an Australian tertiary eye hospital setting. ⋯ The top three ocular injury causing sports were soccer, AFL and basketball. The most frequent injury was traumatic hyphaema. Projectiles posed the greatest risk.
-
Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2022
Multicenter Study Observational StudyPatients treated for acute headache with intranasal droperidol spend less time in the emergency department: A retrospective observational study.
Headache is a common presenting complaint to the ED. Using time from the first provider to discharge as a surrogate for effectiveness, we aimed to determine if intranasal (IN) droperidol is as beneficial as usual treatment for acute headache in the ED. ⋯ IN droperidol reduced LOS in the ED. There are potential cost savings of this effective treatment via this novel route. A prospective multi-centre study of the use of IN droperidol for the treatment of acute headache in the ED is recommended.
-
Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2022
ReviewReview article: A primer for clinical researchers in the emergency department: Part XII. Sustainability of improvements in care: An introduction.
Despite an increased focus on ways to improve implementation of evidence and de-implementation of practices with no known benefit, there is limited guidance on how to sustain these improvements. This review provides an introduction to sustainability of improvements in care and sustainability research, discussing how to support sustainability in practice and detailing a sustainability research agenda for the emergency medicine setting.
-
Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2022
Observational StudyStatus Epilepticus Australasian Registry for Children: A pilot prospective, observational, cohort study of paediatric status epilepticus.
Paediatric status epilepticus (SE) has potential for long-term sequelae. Existing data demonstrate delays to aspects of care. The objective of the present study was to examine the feasibility of collecting data on children with paediatric SE and describe current management strategies in pre-hospital and in-hospital settings. ⋯ In children presenting with SE in Australia medical management differed from previous reports, with midazolam as the preferred benzodiazepine, and levetiracetam replacing phenytoin as the preferred second-line agent. This pilot study indicates the feasibility of a paediatric SE registry and its utility to understand and optimise practice.