The American journal of emergency medicine
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Penetrating brain injury (PBI) is the most lethal form of traumatic brain injury, which is a leading cause of mortality. PBI has a mortality rate of 23%-93% and 87%-100% with poor neurological status. Despite the use of various prognostic factors there is still a need for a specific prognostic factor for early prediction of mortality in PBI to reduce mortality and provide good outcomes with cost-effective surgical treatments. The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive value of the number of intracranial foreign bodies (FBs) on mortality in PBI in the Emergency Department. ⋯ When the intracranial number of FB was >2, mortality significantly increased in patients with PBI. The intracranial number of FBs may be considered as a novel prognostic factor for the prediction of mortality in PBI.
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We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the "Timed Up and Go" (TUG) and the Chair test as screening tools in the Emergency Department (ED), stratified by sex. ⋯ There were no sex specific significant differences in TUG or Chair test screening performance. Neither test performed well as a screening tool for future falls in the elderly in the ED setting.
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Comparative Study
Injuries associated with hoverboard use: A review of the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.
Hoverboards have become popular since they became available in 2015. We seek to provide an estimate of the number of injuries in the United States for 2015 and 2016, and to evaluate differences between adult and pediatric injury complexes. ⋯ Emergency department (ED) visits for hoverboard related injuries appear to be increasing. Pediatric patients are more at risk for hoverboard related injuries than adults and almost 6% of ED visits involved critical injuries, highlighting that hoverboards may be more dangerous than previously recognized.
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Tranexamic acid (TXA) has been shown to decrease mortality in adult trauma patients with or at significant risk of hemorrhage when administered within 3 h of injury. The use and appropriateness of TXA in adult trauma patients presenting to Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) was investigated. ⋯ III STUDY TYPE: Therapeutic.
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The shock index is a rapid and simple tool used to predict mortality in patients with acute illnesses including sepsis, multiple trauma, and postpartum hemorrhage. However, its ability to predict mortality in geriatric patients with influenza in the emergency department (ED) remains unclear. This study was conducted to clarify this issue. ⋯ A shock index ≥1 has a high specificity, negative predictive value, and good reliability to predict 30-day mortality in geriatric ED patients with influenza.