The American journal of emergency medicine
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Hypotension in the Emergency Department (ED) and the prehospital setting has been associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Limited literature exists exploring the utilization of intravenous (IV) bolus-dose epinephrine (BDE) by Emergency Medical Services (EMS). ⋯ The utilization of IV BDE in the prehospital setting for acute hypotension resulted in a significant rise in SBP. A dose-response relationship was noted both in terms of a flat-based dose and a weight-based dose, with higher doses yielding a greater change in SBP. Additional investigations are necessary to further explore the most appropriate dose of this agent in this setting and its influence, if any, on clinical outcomes.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Exploring differential response to an emergency department-based care transition intervention.
To identify multivariable subgroups of patients with differential responses to a nurse-delivered care transition intervention after an emergency department (ED) visit in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) using an emerging data-driven method. ⋯ Although exploratory, the results of the MoB analysis suggest that patient factors related to social relationships such as marital status may be important contributors to differential response to a care transition intervention after an ED visit. These were characteristics that the investigators had not anticipated or planned to examine in the individual prespecified subgroup analysis. Data-driven methods can yield unexpected findings and contribute to a more complete understanding of differential treatment effects in subgroup analysis, which can inform further work on development of effective care transition interventions in the ED setting.
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To assess the association of imaging features of acute pancreatitis (AP) with the magnitude of lipase elevation in Emergency Department (ED) patients. ⋯ Prevalence of imaging signs of AP in an ED population with lipase ≥3× ULN undergoing imaging is low. However, the probability of imaging features of AP increases as lipase value increases.
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Time-to-disposition is an important metric for emergency department throughput. We hypothesized that providers view the shift end as a key timepoint and attempt to leave as few dispositions as possible to the oncoming team, thereby making quicker decisions later in the shift. This study evaluates disposition distribution relative to when patients are assigned a provider during the course of a shift. ⋯ Patients seen during the latter half of a shift were more likely to have a shorter time-to-disposition than similar patients seen in the first half of a shift. This may be influenced by many factors, such as providers spending the early hours of a shift seeing new patients which generate new tasks and delay dispositions, and viewing the end of shift as a landmark with a goal to maximize dispositions prior to sign-out.
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Observational Study
An emergency department-based intensive care unit is associated with decreased hospital length of stay for upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
Upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is associated with substantial morbidity, mortality, and intensive care unit (ICU) utilization. Initial risk stratification and disposition from the Emergency Department (ED) can prove challenging due to limited data points during a short period of observation. An ED-based ICU (ED-ICU) may allow more rapid delivery of ICU-level care, though its impact on patients with UGIB is unknown. ⋯ For critically ill ED patients with UGIB, implementation of an ED-ICU was associated with reductions in rate of ICU admission and hospital LOS, with no differences in safety outcomes.