The American journal of emergency medicine
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While there has been considerable effort devoted to developing alternative payment models (APMs) for primary care physicians and for episodes of care beginning with inpatient admissions, there has been relatively little attention by payers to developing APMs for specialty ambulatory care, and no efforts to develop APMs that explicitly focus on emergency care. In order to ensure that emergency care is appropriately integrated and valued in future payment models, emergency physicians (EPs) must engage with the stakeholders within the broader health care system. In this article, we describe a framework for the development of APMs for emergency medicine and present four examples of APMs that may be applicable in emergency medicine. A better understanding of how APMs can work in emergency medicine will help EPs develop new APMs that improve the cost and quality of care, and leverage the value that emergency care brings to the system.
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The diagnosis of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis still remains a real challenge. Seizure, unusual headache with sudden onset, unexplained persistently unilateral vascular headache and neurologic deficit-which is difficult to be attributed to a vascular territory are some of the suggestive symptoms. ⋯ Rapid and accurate diagnosis and treatment cause to achieve excellent outcomes for most patients. Considering different clinical features, risk factors and high index of suspicion are helpful to reach the diagnosis.
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Case Reports
Profound hypotension and bradycardia in the setting of synthetic cannabinoid intoxication - A case series.
Cannabinoids are the most commonly used illegal substances in the world [1]. Synthetic Cannabinoids (SCB) are also known as "Spice", "K2", "Spike", "herbal incense", "Cloud 9", "Mojo" and many others are becoming a large public health concern due to their increasing use, unpredictable toxicity, and abuse potential [2]. The most common reported toxicities with SCB use based on studies using Texas Poison control record are tachycardia, agitation and irritability, drowsiness, hallucinations, delusions, hypertension, nausea, confusion, dizziness, vertigo, chest pain, acute kidney injury, seizures, heart attacks and both ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes [3]. ⋯ Although these patients were drowsy and sleepy at presentation, tactile stimuli would arouse these patients to awaken and participate in an interview. The patients described in this case series, appeared to be on the brink of cardiovascular collapse. The vital signs however normalized with intravenous fluid (IVF) hydration only, over the course of 6 to 7h, allowing a safe discharge from the ED.
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Pediatric appendicitis is a common, potentially serious condition. Determining perforation status is crucial to planning effective management. ⋯ The routine measurement of STBC does not accurately distinguish perforation status in children with appendicitis, nor discern infecting organism in those with perforation and intra-abdominal abscess.
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A triad of circulatory collapse, right ventricular dilatation, and large alveolar dead space is proposed for the rapid diagnosis and treatment of massive pulmonary embolism. A 17year-old female on oral contraceptives collapsed at home becoming incoherent with shallow breathing. Paramedics initiated mechanical chest compression and transported the patient to our emergency department, arriving minimally responsive with undetectable blood pressure but having positive corneal reflexes and bradycardia with wide QRS. ⋯ A CT-angiogram showed the pulmonary arteries free of emboli but a thrombus in the right common iliac vein. The patient recovered fully and was discharged home on warfarin 8days later. Based on this and other reports, we propose a triad of circulatory collapse, right ventricular dilatation, and large alveolar dead space for the rapid diagnosis and treatment of massive pulmonary embolism, with systemic fibrinolysis as the first-line intervention.