Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2017
De-labelling self-reported penicillin allergy within the emergency department through the use of skin tests and oral drug provocation testing.
Self-reported penicillin allergy is common among patients attending the ED, but is a poor predictor of true immunoglobulin E-mediated hypersensitivity to penicillin. We hypothesise that with a combination of skin testing and drug provocation testing, selected patients can be safely de-labelled of their allergy. ⋯ Selected patients in the ED who self-report an allergy to penicillin can be safely tested there for penicillin allergy, using skin tests and oral drug provocation testing. This testing allows a significant de-labelling of penicillin allergy, with the majority of these patients able to tolerate penicillin without incident.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2017
Hospital use in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal patients with chronic disease.
The objective of this study was to compare rates of hospital utilisation in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples before and after hospital admission for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus. ⋯ Aboriginal people use health services in a different manner when compared to non-Aboriginal people. In a subset of patients with chronic disease, high use may be reduced with better access to primary healthcare. Policy-makers and healthcare providers should examine healthcare use from primary to tertiary care among the Aboriginal population, with a particular focus on ED presentations; investigate the underlying causes driving specific patterns of health service utilisation among Aboriginal people; and develop interventions to reduce potential deleterious impacts, and enhance the potential benefits, of specific patterns of healthcare use.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2017
Diurnal variation in outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Asian communities: The Pan-Asian Resuscitation Outcomes Study.
The present study aimed to determine whether the time of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is associated with survival rate and neurological outcome after OHCA, as well as to compare the effect size of time of OHCA across six Asian regions. ⋯ We found diurnal similarities in OHCA occurrence, as well as differences in survival rate and good neurological recovery rate among Asian regions.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2017
Paediatric acute care: Highlights from the Paediatric Acute Care-Advanced Paediatric Life Support Conference, Adelaide, 2016.
The Paediatric Acute Care Conference (PACC) is an annual conference organised by Advanced Paediatric Life Support Australia to advance paediatric acute care topics for clinicians in pre-hospital medicine, EDs, acute paediatrics, intensive care and anaesthesia. The PACC 2016 was held at Glenelg, Adelaide, Australia. We provide a summary of some of the presentations.