The American journal of emergency medicine
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Acute pyelonephritis is a clinical syndrome that can be confused with other conditions. To investigate this problem, a retrospective cohort study was conducted using two mutually exclusive sets of clinical criteria for acute pyelonephritis in women 15 years of age or older who presented to the emergency department of a university hospital. All patients had pyuria, and one group had documented fever (temperature of > or = 37.8 degrees C) while the other group had a temperature of < 37.8 degrees C but had other evidence of possible upper tract infection. ⋯ Other diagnoses included cholecystitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, and diverticulitis. The positive predictive value of the definition of pyelonephritis in the febrile group was 0.98, and it was 0.84 for the afebrile group. Physicians examining patients with clinical evidence of acute pyelonephritis but without objective fever should be alert for alternative diagnoses.
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Hypernatremia (serum sodium level of > 145 mEq/L) is associated with high mortality. This study reports an analysis of mortality in 116 patients with hypernatremia from two large university-affiliated teaching hospitals. The purpose was to identify factors predictive of high mortality in hypernatremic patients. ⋯ The cognitive abnormalities consisting of confusion, obtundation, and speech abnormality were significantly (P < .05) higher in the expired patients than in those who survived. Normal (isotonic) saline was used significantly more frequently (P < .00001) in patients who expired than in those who survived. Thus, this study suggests that a persistently elevated serum Na+ level (possibly caused by prolonged infusion of normal saline) in association with protracted hypotension portends a dismal prognosis in hospitalized hypernatremic patients.
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Comparative Study
Interhospital aeromedical transports: air medical activation intervals in adult and pediatric trauma patients.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether pediatric trauma patients were transferred from community hospitals to trauma centers more expeditiously than adults of similar injury acuity. The study analyzed the air medical activation time, defined as the time delay between patient arrival at community hospitals and subsequent request for air medical transport to a Level I trauma center. ⋯ The mean air medical activation times for pediatric and adult trauma Interfacility transports were 36.5 and 70.1 minutes, respectively (P = .016). The study shows that community hospitals are able to expedite transfer of pediatric trauma patients and suggests that transfer delays for adult trauma patients may be reducible.
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A study was conducted to compare the presenting complaints and historical information of adolescents diagnosed as pregnant (DP) in the emergency department (ED) with adolescents seen in the ED who were pregnant and not diagnosed (MP). Medical records for the period 1980-94 were retrospectively analyzed to identify patients 16 years of age or younger who were diagnosed as pregnant in the ED or who had a live birth and had an ED visit during pregnancy. This analysis was done in a university-affiliated tertiary referral hospital with approximately 65,000 ED visits and 3,500 deliveries each year. ⋯ The diagnosis of pregnancy can be a challenge in patients who present to a busy ED with complaints that are not necessarily suggestive of pregnancy. Historical information regarding menses and sexual activity is either not obtained or is incomplete or inaccurate. We recommend a low threshold for the consideration of pregnancy in adolescents irrespective of the presenting complaint.
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A case of right bronchial rupture demonstrated by computed tomography (CT) is reported. Chest radiographs of a 55-year-old man who sustained blunt chest trauma showed bilateral pneumomediastinum, hydropneumothorax, and subcutaneous emphysema with fracture of the left 3rd and 4th ribs. ⋯ Bronchoscopy and thoracostomy confirmed the CT findings and the patient was treated by bronchorrhaphy with end-to-end anastomosis. The airway should be meticulously evaluated in cases of mediastinal and subcutaneous emphysema, especially after trauma.