Annals of emergency medicine
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We examine access to care for acute depression by insurance status compared to access for acute medical conditions in 9 metropolitan areas in the United States. ⋯ Our findings indicate that the process for obtaining urgent follow-up appointments is systematically different for patients seeking behavioral health care than for those with physical complaints. The use of voicemail, in lieu of having a person answer the telephone, is much more prevalent in behavioral than physical health settings. More work is needed to determine the effect of this practice on depressed individuals and vulnerable populations.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A randomized, crossover comparison of injected buffered lidocaine, lidocaine cream, and no analgesia for peripheral intravenous cannula insertion.
We compare pain and anxiety associated with peripheral intravenous (IV) cannula insertion after pretreatment with no local anesthesia, 4% lidocaine cream, or subcutaneously injected, buffered 1% lidocaine. ⋯ In adult health care providers, pain and anxiety associated with peripheral IV insertion is significantly reduced by using topical lidocaine cream or injected, buffered lidocaine. Injected, buffered lidocaine reduces IV insertion pain more than lidocaine cream, without affecting success. Adults desire the use of local anesthetic techniques for IV insertion for themselves and for their patients.
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Ketamine is widely used in emergency departments (EDs) to facilitate painful procedures; however, existing descriptors of predictors of emesis and recovery agitation are derived from relatively small studies. ⋯ Early adolescence is the peak age for ketamine-associated emesis, and its rate is higher with IM administration and with unusually high IV doses. Recovery agitation is not age related to a clinically important degree. When we interpreted it in conjunction with the separate airway adverse event phase of this analysis, we found no apparent clinically important benefit or harm from coadministered anticholinergics and benzodiazepines and no increase in adverse events with either oropharyngeal procedures or the presence of substantial underlying illness. These and other results herein challenge many widely held views about ED ketamine administration.