The American journal of emergency medicine
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Observational Study
Patterns of Emergency Department visits for acute and chronic diseases during the two pandemic waves in Italy.
Evidence is lacking about the impact of subsequent COVID-19 pandemic waves on Emergency Departments (ED). We analyzed the differences in patterns of ED visits in Italy during the two pandemic waves, focusing on changes in accesses for acute and chronic diseases. ⋯ The two pandemic waves led to a selection of patients with higher and more urgent needs of acute hospital care. These findings should lead to investigate how to improve systems' capacity to manage changes in population needs.
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While the role of palliative care in the emergency department is recognized, barriers against the effective integration of palliative interventions and emergency care remain. We examined the association between goals-of-care and palliative care consultations and healthcare utilization outcomes in older adult patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) with sepsis. ⋯ In patients aged 65 years and older who presented to the ED with sepsis, early palliative consultations were associated with reduced healthcare utilization as compared to late palliative consultations.
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The COVID-19 pandemic can exacerbate underlying substance use disorder and has impacted this vulnerable population in a variety of ways. There are limited data regarding how this pandemic has impacted emergency department (ED) patient presentations. ⋯ There was an increase in the proportion of positive SBIRT screens and visits for acute overdoses and intoxication during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional research should focus on mitigation strategies to address substance use during this vulnerable time.
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Acute pain from a vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) is a leading reason patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) visit the emergency department (ED). Prior studies suggest that women and men receive disparate ED treatment for acute pain in EDs. We aim to determine sex differences in analgesic use among patients with SCD presenting to the ED. ⋯ In this nationally representative sample of ED visits among patients with SCD, there was no conclusive evidence of sex disparities in opioid prescribing. Though there is evidence of a trend signaling that male patients with SCD were more likely than female patients to be prescribed an opioid.
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COVID-19; It spread rapidly around the world and led to a global pandemic. Indicators of poor prognosis are important in the treatment and follow-up of COVID-19 patients and have always been a matter of interest to researchers. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between frontal QRS-T angle values and clinical severity and prognosis in COVID-19 patients. ⋯ Frontal QRS-T angle can be used as a reproducible, convenient, inexpensive, new and powerful predictor in determining the clinical severity and prognosis of COVID-19 patients.