The American journal of emergency medicine
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Observational Study
Prognostic value of lactate in prehospital care as a predictor of early mortality.
Prehospital Emergency Medical Services must attend to patients with complex physiopathological situations with little data and in the shortest possible time. The objective of this work was to study lactic acid values and their usefulness in the prehospital setting to help in clinical decision-making. ⋯ The level of lactic acid can be a complementary tool in the field of prehospital emergencies that will guide us early in the detection of critical patients.
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Observational Study
A National Dataset Analysis of older adults in emergency department observation units.
Emergency Department (ED) Observation Units (Obs Units) are prevalent in the US, but little is known regarding older adults in observation. Our objective was to describe the Obs Units nationally and observation patients with specific attention to differences in care with increasing age. ⋯ Older adults are more likely to be cared for in Obs Units. Older adults are treated for different medical conditions than younger adults.
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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that seat belt use results in a significant decrease in MVC mortality. The rate of obesity is currently extensive. There is limited data on the impact of seat belt use and body mass index (BMI) on mortality and trauma outcomes following MVCs. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of seat belt use and BMI on outcomes in adult trauma patients. ⋯ Use of a seat belt reduced Trauma Center mortality regardless of BMI. Seat belts should be used by all patients as a mechanism to significantly reduce mortality.
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Letter Multicenter Study Observational Study
Current use and training needs of point-of-care ultrasound in emergency departments: A national survey of VA hospitals.
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Computed tomography (CT) is frequently used to identify intra-abdominal injuries in children with blunt abdominal trauma (BAT). The Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) proposed a prediction rule to identify children with BAT who are at very low risk for clinically-important intra-abdominal injuries (CIIAI) in whom CT can be avoided. ⋯ One out of 133 patients with CIIAI met very low risk criteria based on the PECARN prediction rule. This study supports the PECARN clinical prediction rule in decreasing CT use in pediatric patients at very low risk for CIIAI.