The American journal of emergency medicine
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Clinicians still face significant challenge in predicting intra-abdominal injuries in patients admitted to an emergency department for blunt abdominal trauma. This study was thus designed to investigate the value of dipstick urinalysis in patients with blunt abdominal trauma. ⋯ Dipstick urinalysis was neither adequately specific nor sensitive for predicting abdominal injury and should thus not be used as a key assessment component in patients suffering from blunt abdominal trauma, with physical exam and vital sign assessment the preferred choice.
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Objective The lack of a sensitive, practical bedside test for hypovolemia has rekindled interest in the shock index (heart rate divided by systolic blood pressure). Here, we compare the effect of blood donation on standing shock index values with its effect on values for the supine shock index and orthostatic change in shock indicies (OCSI).