Emergency medicine clinics of North America
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The diagnosis of appendicitis is fraught with potential pitfalls, and despite its prevalence, appendicitis continues to be a condition at high risk for missed and delayed diagnosis. There is no single historical or physical finding or laboratory test that can definitively make the diagnosis. ⋯ Challenges of special populations, such as children, the elderly, and pregnant patients, are also discussed. Although appendicitis continues to be a source of medical legal risk and misdiagnosis, a clear understanding of the strengths and limitations of all tests in suspected appendicitis can improve the emergency physician's diagnostic accuracy in this high-risk disease.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · Feb 2010
Pitfalls in the management of headache in the emergency department.
Headache is the fifth most common primary complaint of patients presenting to an emergency department (ED) in the United States. The emergency physician (EP) plays a unique role in the management of these patients, one that differs from that of the primary care physician, the neurologist, and other specialists. ⋯ When certain features are present, empirical therapies and diagnostic testing should be initiated in the ED. The most frequently encountered pitfalls in the management of patients with headache in emergency medicine practice, and those with the greatest likelihood to adversely affect patient outcomes, are discussed.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · Nov 2009
ReviewTriage, EMTALA, consultations, and prehospital medical control.
Medical control of prehospital emergency services, triage in the emergency department, and the dual duties within the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act challenge emergency medicine physicians with both statutory obligations and liabilities. Each independently may seem to present a definable boundary of liability for the practitioner. Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, the sequential duties of the medical screening examination and subsequent stabilization or transfer are confounded by the potential for tremendous sanction for a mechanistic violation. Nevertheless, the true obligation is to provide appropriate care to all who present to the emergency department and not simply weigh the totality of risk to the emergency medicine physician.
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Patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with behavioral disturbances account for approximately 6% of all ED visits. Emergency physicians are often responsible for the initial assessment of these patients' psychiatric complaints, which might include homicidal and suicidal behavior and acute psychosis. ⋯ The purpose of the medical screening is to identify medical conditions that might be causing or contributing to the psychiatric emergency or that might be dangerous or inappropriate to treat in a psychiatric facility. Appropriate treatment in the ED is essential to avoid morbidity and mortality resulting from misdiagnosis of medical conditions as psychiatric illnesses and from mismanagement of psychiatric illnesses.