Annals of emergency medicine
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Pain of local anesthetics: rate of administration and buffering.
To determine the impact of administration rate and buffering on the pain associated with subcutaneous infiltration of lidocaine. ⋯ This is the largest blinded study to assess administration rate and the pain of a local anesthetic. We found that administration rate had a greater impact on the perceived pain of lidocaine infiltration than did buffering.
-
To determine how emergency physicians and nurses spend their time on emergency department activities. ⋯ Emergency physicians and nurses spent almost half of their time on indirect patient care. Physicians spent significantly more time on indirect patient care activities and significantly less time on personal activities than did nurses.
-
See editorial Objective: Patients with lacerations are most concerned about the ultimate cosmetic appearance of their wound. We evaluated methods to assess the long-term cosmetic appearance by telephone survey.
-
Comparative Study
Irrigation in facial and scalp lacerations: does it alter outcome?
Animal and human studies suggest that irrigation lowers the infection rate in contaminated wounds, but there is no evidence that this common practice is beneficial for "clean" lacerations. We tested the null hypothesis that there is no difference in the infection rate for noncontaminated lacerations to the face and scalp that are irrigated before primary closure compared with similar wounds that are closed primarily without irrigation. ⋯ Irrigation before primary closure did not significantly alter the rate of infection or the cosmetic appearance in our study population with clean, noncontaminated facial and scalp lacerations.
-
Comparative Study
Long-term evaluation of cosmetic appearance of repaired lacerations: validation of telephone assessment. The Stony Brook Wound Registry Study Group.
Patients with lacerations are most concerned about the ultimate cosmetic appearance of their wound. We evaluated methods to assess the long-term cosmetic appearance by telephone survey. ⋯ The long-term cosmetic appearance of lacerations repaired in the ED can be assessed by asking patients to grade their lacerations from 0 to 100 over the telephone. By contrast, categorical assessment over the telephone is not concordant with physician assessment in the ED. This information may allow easier assessment of injuries and their long-term consequences.