Annals of emergency medicine
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Comparative Study
A comparison of physostigmine and benzodiazepines for the treatment of anticholinergic poisoning.
To compare the efficacy and safety of physostigmine with benzodiazepines for the treatment of agitation and delirium associated with anticholinergic poisoning. ⋯ Results suggest that physostigmine is more effective and safer than benzodiazepines for the treatment of anticholinergic agitation and delirium. A prospective controlled study is necessary to confirm such findings.
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Rates of sexual assault are increasing, and evidence exists that its demographics and characteristics are changing. The purpose of our study was to describe victim, assailant, assault, and treatment characteristics for sexual assault victims and to provide descriptive data on the evidentiary examination. ⋯ Health care professionals should be aware that general body trauma is common, that the assailant is often someone known to the victim, and that evidence of semen is commonly found by the crime laboratory even when it is not found in the ED analysis of a wet mount.
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Chest pain is a common emergency department complaint. Many patients presenting with this complaint are discharged with the nonspecific diagnosis of musculoskeletal chest pain. That was the diagnosis given to the patient in this case at the time of her initial presentation to the ED, a diagnosis that was correct but incomplete. This case illustrates the importance of taking a complete history, including a thorough review of systems in every patient, even when the diagnosis seems obvious.