Annals of emergency medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Pragmatic Clinical Trial
An Adaptive Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial of Emergency Department Acupuncture for Acute Musculoskeletal Pain Management.
Acute musculoskeletal pain in emergency department (ED) patients is frequently severe and challenging to treat with medications alone. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of adding ED acupuncture to treat acute episodes of musculoskeletal pain in the neck, back, and extremities. ⋯ ED acupuncture is feasible and acceptable and can reduce acute musculoskeletal pain better than UC alone.
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Diagnosing patients presenting to the emergency department with self-limited episodes of isolated dizziness (the episodic vestibular syndrome) requires a broad differential diagnosis that includes posterior circulation transient ischemic attack. Because these patients are, by definition, asymptomatic without new neurologic findings on examination, the diagnosis, largely based on history and epidemiologic context, can be challenging. ⋯ We present ways of distinguishing posterior circulation transient ischemic attack from vestibular migraine, the most common cause of episodic vestibular syndrome. We also present a diagnostic algorithm that may help clinicians to work their way through the differential diagnosis.
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Observational Study
Measurement of Cost of Boarding in the Emergency Department Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing.
Boarding admitted patients in emergency departments (EDs) is a national crisis that is worsening despite potential financial disadvantages. The objective of this study was to assess costs associated with boarding. ⋯ Using advanced cost-accounting methods, our investigation provides novel evidence that boarding of admitted patients is financially costly, adding greater urgency for elimination of this practice.