The American journal of emergency medicine
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Observational Study
Feasibility of upright patient positioning and intubation success rates at two academic emergency departments.
Endotracheal intubation is most commonly taught and performed in the supine position. Recent literature suggests that elevating the patient's head to a more upright position may decrease peri-intubation complications. However, there is little data on the feasibility of upright intubation in the emergency department. The goal of this study was to measure the success rate of emergency medicine residents performing intubation in supine and non-supine, including upright positions. ⋯ In our study emergency medicine residents had a high rate of success intubating in the upright position. While this does not demonstrate causation, it correlates with recent literature challenging the traditional supine approach to intubation and indicates that further investigation into optimal positioning during emergency department intubations is warranted.
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Observational Study
Validity of ultrasound in diagnosis of tendon injuries in penetrating extremity trauma.
Tendon ruptures are common musculoskeletal injuries all around the world. Correct and timely diagnosis of tendon injuries is obviously important for improving the treatment and minimizing the community costs. Ultrasound is now being considered as one of useful modalities in this area. ⋯ Our results were similar to previous findings. Ultrasound can effectively differentiate injured from intact tendons in penetrating extremity trauma.
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Observational Study
Point-of-care lung ultrasound in children with community acquired pneumonia.
To present lung ultrasound findings in children assessed with suspected pneumonia in the emergency department and to show the benefit of lung ultrasound in diagnosing pneumonia in comparison with chest X-rays. ⋯ This study shows that lung ultrasound is at least as useful as chest X-ray in diagnosing children with community-acquired pneumonia.
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To reduce the time required for suture closure for central venous catheterization, a new procedure was developed using a continuous suture technique. The present study was conducted to investigate the usefulness of this method. ⋯ We found that the new one-time method provided faster and more convenient central catheterization and catheter securement than the conventional methods.