Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To determine the sensitivity and specificity of sinus x-rays of patients clinically diagnosed as having acute sinusitis. ⋯ Sinus x-rays are less sensitive than sinus CT scans for demonstration of radiographic changes consistent with acute sinusitis. Sinus plain films may not be reliable enough to assist with clinical decision making. If severity of patient illness requires diagnostic certainty, more sensitive imaging studies, such as CT scans of the sinuses, should be considered.
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To determine whether previously developed triage criteria for refusal of care to patients presenting to an emergency department (ED) with nonurgent problems could be validated for an independent patient population. ⋯ The authors were unable to validate a previously developed predictive model for refusal of care to patients presenting to an ED. Refusal of care to selected ED patients based on current guidelines is not a viable solution to overcrowding. Alternative strategies must be sought.
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To define risk factors for infections from dog- bite wounds and to model the probability of wound infection in patients presenting without infection who are treated as outpatients. ⋯ A low wound infection rate was seen in this cohort of dog-bite victims who were treated on an outpatient basis. Wound depth, patient gender, and wound debridement were the clinical variables that best predicted the likelihood of developing infection. Future interventional studies should concentrate on wounds with high probabilities of infection.
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Editorial Comment
Triage of nonurgent patients out of the emergency department.