Annals of emergency medicine
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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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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.