Annals of emergency medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Treatment of acute mountain sickness: hyperbaric versus oxygen therapy.
To compare the benefits of simulated descent in a hyperbaric chamber with those of supplementary oxygen for the treatment of acute mountain sickness. ⋯ Simulated descent in a fabric hyperbaric chamber is as effective as oxygen therapy for the immediate relief of acute mountain sickness.
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Acetaminophen overdose: a 48-hour intravenous N-acetylcysteine treatment protocol.
To determine the safety and efficacy of a 48-hour IV N-acetylcysteine (IV NAC) treatment protocol for acute acetaminophen overdose. ⋯ This 48-hour IV NAC protocol is safe and effective antidotal therapy for acetaminophen overdose. Based on available data, it is equal to 72-hour oral and 20-hour IV treatment protocols when started early and superior to the 20-hour IV regimen when treatment is delayed. Further study will be required to determine its relative efficacy in the high-risk patient treated very late.
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Ethical concerns are a major part of the clinical practice of emergency medicine. The emergency physician must make hard choices, not only with regard to the scientific/technical aspects but also with regard to the moral aspects of caring for emergency patients. By the nature of the specialty, emergency physicians face ethical dilemmas often requiring prompt decisions with limited information. ⋯ Neither the scientific nor the moral aspects of clinical decision making can be reduced to simple formulas. Nevertheless, decisions must be made. Emergency physicians should, therefore, be cognizant of the ethical principles that are important for emergency medicine, understand the process of ethical reasoning, and be capable of making rational moral decisions based on a stable framework of values.
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To evaluate the safety and efficacy of oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate (OTFC) as a noninvasive method of providing analgesia and sedation for patients in the emergency department. ⋯ OTFC may be useful in providing rapid, noninvasive analgesia and sedation in the ED and deserves further evaluation.