The American journal of emergency medicine
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Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present more frequently to the emergency department (ED) than children with normal development, and frequently have injuries requiring procedural sedation. Our objective was to describe sedation practice and outcomes in children with ASD in the ED. ⋯ Children with autism in the ED commonly received sedation; one in four of which were for non-painful diagnostic procedures or physical examination. Over one-third received sedation via a non-parenteral route for intended minimal sedation. Sedative medication dosing and observed adverse events were similar to those reported previously in children without ASD. Emergency providers must be prepared to meet the unique sedation needs of children with ASD.
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Observational Study
Pediatric emergency medical services in privately insured patients: A 10-year national claims analysis.
To characterize pediatric Emergency Medicine Service (EMS) transports to the Emergency Department (ED) using a national claims database. ⋯ Trauma is the most frequent diagnosis for transport in children older than 5 years of age. Mental health and neurologic transports have markedly increased, while trauma transports have decreased. Most children arriving by ambulance were classified as requiring ED level of care. These changes might have significant implication for EMS personnel and policy makers.
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Clinicians utilize inflammatory markers, including C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), to identify febrile children who may have an occult serious illness or infection. ⋯ In our cross-sectional study of febrile children, IBI was unlikely with either a normal CRP or ESR. Inflammatory markers could be used to assist clinical decision-making while awaiting results of bacterial cultures.
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The risk of tPA in the treatment of stroke, is that approximately 5% of patients may have significant intracranial bleeding, increasing mortality to 45%. Use of tPA can also cause other forms of life-threatening bleeding, most commonly gastrointestinal bleeding. In this case review, we discuss the presentation and management of a patient with post-tPA pulmonary hemorrhage and the use of tranexamic acid (TXA) for the cessation of bleeding. ⋯ A 78-year-old female reported dysarthria, left-sided facial droop, left sided weakness of 1-hour duration with an initial NIH stroke scale (NIHSS) of 7. The patient had tPA administered, had an abrupt change in mental status and was ultimately intubated for airway protection. After endotracheal intubation, the patient began to hemorrhage from the endotracheal tube and was administered nebulized TXA totaling 2 g over the course of 20 min, with subsequent cessation of bleeding. tPA administration comes with inherent risks given the known bleeding complications and no consensus for the reversal of bleeding secondary to tPA. TXA may be a viable option in the setting of tPA induced pulmonary hemorrhage.
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Comparative Study
Reliability of smartphone measurements of vital parameters: A prospective study using a reference method.
In this study, we aimed to evaluate the accuracy of HR and SaO2 data obtained using a smartphone compared with the measurements of a vital signs monitor (VSM) and an arterial blood gas (ABG) device, respectively. ⋯ The HR and SaO2 values obtained by smartphone were found to be consistent with the measurements of the reference devices. With the growing use of smartphone technology in the health field, we foresee that patients will be able to make their own triage assessment before presenting to the hospital.