Annals of emergency medicine
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Since its original development in Oregon in 1993, Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) is quickly growing in popularity and prevalence as a method of communicating the end-of-life care preferences for the seriously ill and frail nationwide. Early evidence has suggested significant advantages over advance directives and do-not-resuscitate/do-not-intubate documents both in accuracy and penetration within relevant populations. ⋯ Although it was designed to be as clear as possible, unexpected challenges in the interpretation and use of POLST in the emergency department do exist. In this article, we will discuss the history, ethical considerations, legal issues, and emerging trends in the use of POLST documents as they apply to emergency medicine.
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Editorial Comment
Does the Use of Video Laryngoscopy Improve Intubation Outcomes?
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Comparative Study
Comparison of PECARN, CATCH, and CHALICE Rules for Children With Minor Head Injury: A Prospective Cohort Study.
Comparing PECARN, CATCH, and CHALICE Rules for Children With Minor Head Injury along with two modalities of physician judgement showed significant variation in the sensitivities and specificities of the five modalities. Only physician practice and PECARN identified all traumatic brain injuries at a cost of lower specificity compared with CHALICE.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Randomized Clinical Trial of an Emergency Department Observation Syncope Protocol Versus Routine Inpatient Admission.
Older adults are frequently hospitalized from the emergency department (ED) after an episode of unexplained syncope. Current admission patterns are costly, with little evidence of benefit. We hypothesize that an ED observation syncope protocol will reduce resource use without adversely affecting patient-oriented outcomes. ⋯ An ED observation syncope protocol reduced the primary outcomes of admission rate and hospital length of stay. Analyses of secondary outcomes suggest reduction in index hospital costs, with no difference in safety events, quality of life, or patient satisfaction. Our findings suggest that an ED observation syncope protocol can be replicated and safely reduce resource use.
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We assess emergency department (ED) patients' risk thresholds for preferring admission versus discharge when presenting with chest pain and determine how the method of information presentation affects patients' choices. ⋯ Using an expected utility model to measure patients' risk thresholds does not seem to work, either to find a stable risk preference within individuals or in groups. Further work in measurement of patients' risk tolerance or methods of shared decisionmaking not dependent on assessment of risk tolerance is needed.