Annals of emergency medicine
-
Clinical Trial
A pilot study to derive clinical variables for selective chest radiography in blunt trauma patients.
The goal of this pilot study was to determine whether clinical criteria can identify blunt trauma patients with significant acute intrathoracic injury on chest radiograph. ⋯ In this small sample, the combination of palpation tenderness and hypoxia identified all blunt trauma patients with significant acute intrathoracic injury while potentially eliminating the need for 46% of chest radiographs.
-
We evaluate the safety and feasibility of a critical care pathway protocol in which patients with acute chest pain who are low risk for coronary artery disease and short-term adverse cardiac outcomes receive outpatient stress testing within 72 hours of an emergency department (ED) visit. ⋯ For patients with chest pain and low risk for short-term cardiac events, outpatient stress testing is feasible, safe, and associated with decreased hospital admission rates. With an evidence-based protocol, physicians efficiently identify patients at low risk for clinically significant coronary artery disease and short-term adverse cardiac outcomes.