The American journal of emergency medicine
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We assessed the performance of the ratio of peripheral arterial oxygen saturation to the inspired fraction of oxygen (SpO2/FiO2) to predict the ratio of partial pressure arterial oxygen to the fraction of inspired oxygen (PaO2/FiO2) among patients admitted to our emergency department (ED) during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. ⋯ The SpO2/FiO2 ratio may be a reliable tool for hypoxemia screening among patients admitted to the ED, particularly during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak.
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Frequency and yield of blood cultures for observation patients with skin and soft tissue infections.
1) To measure frequency and yield of blood cultures obtained for observation status adult patients with skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI), 2) describe how often blood cultures were performed according to Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) SSTI guideline indications, 3) identify proportion of patients meeting Center for Medicare Services (CMS) sepsis criteria. ⋯ Among observation status patients with SSTI, over half had blood cultures drawn, though 10% satisfied guideline indications for culture. The proportion of cultures with bacterial growth was low and yielded as many skin contaminants as cases of bacteremia. Our study highlights the need for further quality improvement efforts to reduce unnecessary blood cultures in routine SSTI cases.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
High early phase hemoglobin level is associated with favorable neurological outcome in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
The appropriate hemoglobin (Hb) level threshold for the early phase (i.e. from Emergency Department to ICU admission) in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is still unknown. Therefore, we aimed to examine the association between Hb levels during the early phase and neurological outcomes in patients with severe TBI using data from the Brain Hypothermia (B-HYPO) Study Group. ⋯ High early phase Hb levels are associated with favorable neurological outcomes after severe TBI.