Annals of emergency medicine
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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.
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Meta Analysis
Diagnostic Accuracy of D-Dimer for Acute Aortic Syndromes: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Acute aortic syndrome is a life-threatening emergency condition. Previous systematic reviews of D-dimer diagnostic accuracy for acute aortic syndrome have been contradictory and based on limited data, but recently published studies offer potential for a more definitive overview. We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the diagnostic accuracy of D-dimer for diagnosing acute aortic syndrome. ⋯ D-dimer concentration has high sensitivity (96.5%) and moderate specificity (56.2%) for acute aortic syndrome, with some uncertainty around estimates due to risk of bias and heterogeneity. Previous meta-analysis reporting higher specificity may be explained by inclusion of case-control studies that may overestimate accuracy.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Out-of-Hospital Intranasal Ketamine as an Adjunct to Fentanyl for the Treatment of Acute Traumatic Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
To evaluate if out-of-hospital administration of fentanyl and intranasal ketamine, compared to fentanyl alone, improves early pain control after injury. ⋯ In our sample, we did not detect an analgesic benefit of adding 50 mg intranasal ketamine to fentanyl in out-of-hospital trauma patients.