The American journal of emergency medicine
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Case Reports
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia with gastric volvulus presenting as an acute tension gastrothorax.
This report describes a 3-month-old infant with acute severe respiratory distress in whom a diagnosis of congenital diaphragmatic hernia with tension gastrothorax and gastric volvulus was made. A review of the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, differential diagnosis, diagnostic evaluation, and treatment of congenital diaphragmatic hernia is presented.
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Sedation with analgesia is frequently required to perform painful or invasive procedures in children. The best medication combination for pediatric sedation with analgesia is yet to be identified. Sixty-four of 243 total sedation with analgesia procedures from January 1994 through August 1995 were randomly chosen for descriptive retrospective review and analysis. ⋯ No episodes of respiratory depression, hypotension, or nausea and vomiting occurred in the fentanyl/propofol group. These results show that fentanyl/propofol was superior to other medications used during this study period for pediatric sedation with analgesia. Prospective comparison of this medication combination with other short-acting agents in patients undergoing both elective and emergency procedures is necessary.
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Training programs in bedside ultrasound for emergency physicians often encounter considerable resistance, partly because of concern that the number of radiology-interpreted studies ordered from the ED may decrease. This study attempted to determine the effect of instituting an ED training program in ultrasound on the ordering of formal studies from a department of radiology. ⋯ The number of formal studies significantly increased after institution of the training program, both in terms of absolute numbers (annual mean 181 v 95, P < .001) and as a percentage of all outpatient sonograms ordered at the institution (9.8% v 5.1%, P < .001). Introduction of a teaching program in emergency ultrasound appears to increase utilization of formal ultrasound services, at least during the training period.
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Letter Case Reports
Elbow dislocation complicated by brachial artery laceration.