Internal and emergency medicine
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This study aimed to compare the prescribing patterns of paracetamol in COVID-19 with those for similar respiratory conditions and investigated the association between paracetamol use and COVID-19-related hospitalization/death. ⋯ Our findings provide reassuring evidence on the use and safety profile of paracetamol to treat early symptoms of COVID-19 as in other respiratory infections.
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Clinical Trial
Ultrasound screening for asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis in critically ill patients: a pilot trial.
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in critically ill patients still represents a clinical challenge. The aim of the study was to investigate whether a systematic ultrasound (US) screening might improve the management of the antithrombotic therapy in intensive care unit (ICU). In this non-randomized diagnostic clinical trial, 100 patients consecutively admitted to ICU of the University Hospital of Perugia were allocated either in the screening group or in the control group. ⋯ The duration of stay in ICU was longer in the screening group (p = 0.007). Active screening for DVT is associated with an increased diagnosis of DVT. The screening could be associated with a reduced incidence of proximal DVT and a reduction in the bleeding risk.
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Frailty is a common condition present in older Emergency Department (ED) patients that is associated with poor health outcomes. The Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) is a tool that measures frailty on a scale from 1 (very fit) to 9 (terminally ill). The goal of this scoping review was to describe current use of the CFS in emergency medicine and to identify gaps in research. ⋯ https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/W2F8N.
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Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) can trigger the apoptosis pathways through binding to relative death receptors. However, the relationship of TRAIL with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) was unclear. This study aims at exploring the relationships between circulatory TRAIL with severity and prognosis in CAP patients through a prospective cohort study. The whole of 239 CAP patients was enrolled. ⋯ The predictive capacities of serum TRAIL for death were higher compared with CAP severity scores, inflammatory and infectious indicators. There are obviously positive dose-response relationships between circulatory TRAIL on admission with the severity and poor prognostic outcomes in CAP patients. Circulatory TRAIL on admission may be used as a potential biomarker in predicting the severity and poor prognosis for CAP patients.