The American journal of emergency medicine
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Nonurgent visits to emergency departments (ED) are a controversial issue; they have been negatively associated with crowding and costs. We have conducted a critical review of the literature regarding methods for categorizing ED visits into urgent or nonurgent and analyzed the proportions of nonurgent ED visits. We found 51 methods of categorization. ⋯ The proportions of nonurgent ED visits varied considerably: 4.8% to 90%, with a median of 32%. Comparisons of methods of categorization in the same population showed variability in levels of agreement. Our review has highlighted the lack of reliability and reproducibility.
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Often, patients are brought in to the emergency department after ingesting large amounts of cocaine in an attempt to conceal it. This act is known as body stuffing. The observation period required to recognize potential toxic adverse effects in these patients is not well described in the literature. ⋯ One hundred six patients met final inclusion criteria as adult cocaine stuffers. No patients developed life-threatening symptoms, and no patients died during observation. In our medical setting, stuffers could be discharged after a 6-hour observation period if there was either complete resolution or absence of clinical symptoms.