The American journal of emergency medicine
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Clinical Trial
Clinical usefulness of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and visinin-like protein-1 in early diagnostic tests for acute stroke.
Lack of a rapid biochemical test for acute stroke is a limitation in the diagnosis and management of acute stroke. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of BDNF and VILIP-1 as diagnostic markers in acute ischemic stroke and as predictors of mortality. ⋯ The BDNF level showed a significant ability to discriminate stroke and control patients but did not predict mortality. The VILIP-1 level showed insignificant ability to discriminate stroke patients and again did not predict mortality.
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Trauma is a major cause of death and disability in the United States, and significant disparities exist in access to care, especially in non-urban settings. From 2007 to 2017 New Mexico expanded its trauma system by focusing on building capacity at the hospital level. ⋯ The New Mexico trauma system expansion significantly increased access to trauma care within 1 h for most of New Mexico, but some notable disparities remain. Barriers persist for very rural parts of the state and for its sizable American Indian community.
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Case Reports
Inflammatory markers limitations in the diagnosis of pediatric calcaneal osteomyelitis.
Calcaneal osteomyelitis is an uncommon, but clinically important emergent condition in the differential of the limping child. Early recognition is paramount to prevent complications from delayed diagnosis like formation of periosteal abscesses or growth plate injury. The diagnosis of pediatric osteoarticular infection relies on a combination of clinical exam, imaging and inflammatory markers. ⋯ Location of infection in small bones like the calcaneus can lead to significantly lower sensitivities than in long bones. Pretreatment with antibiotics prior presentation can also decrease the reliability of ESR and CRP. In this case, we highlight two unique clinical factors that diminish the sensitivity of commonly used inflammatory markers in the diagnosis of pediatric osteomyelitis.
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Comparative Study
Pharmacokinetic effects of endotracheal, intraosseous, and intravenous epinephrine in a swine model of traumatic cardiac arrest.
Limited prospective data exist regarding epinephrine's controversial role in managing traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA). This study compared the maximum concentration (Cmax), time to maximum concentration (Tmax), plasma concentration over time, return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), time to ROSC, and odds of ROSC of epinephrine administered by the endotracheal (ETT), intraosseous (IO), and intravenous (IV) routes in a swine TCA model. ⋯ The pharmacokinetics of IV, HIO, and SIO epinephrine were comparable. Endotracheal epinephrine absorption was highly variable and unreliable compared to IV and IO epinephrine. Epinephrine appeared to have a lesser role than volume replacement in resuscitating TCA.
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Observational Study
Evaluation of an emergency department to outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy program for cellulitis.
Emergency department (ED) patients with non-purulent skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) requiring intravenous antibiotics may be managed via outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT). Prospective studies describing the performance of an ED-to-OPAT clinic program are lacking. The primary objective was to determine the OPAT treatment failure rate for ED patients with non-purulent SSTIs. ⋯ This prospective study demonstrates that an ED-to-OPAT clinic program for non-purulent SSTIs is safe, has a low rate of treatment failures and results in high patient satisfaction. The rationale for selecting intravenous antibiotics showed significant variability among ED physicians.