Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Comparative Study
Comparison of patient satisfaction and practitioner satisfaction with wound appearance after traumatic wound repair.
Existing cosmetic scales for wounds are based only on practitioners' evaluations. They have not been validated using the patient's assessment. ⋯ Lacerations that practitioners considered to have optimal cosmetic appearances at the time of suture removal received higher patient satisfaction scores than did lacerations considered to be suboptimal. This provides a measure of validity to this 6-item categorical cosmetic scale.
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To study the frequency of medical complaints and need for routine ED medical, laboratory, and toxicologic clearance for patients presenting with psychiatric chief complaints. ⋯ The vast majority of medical problems and substance abuse in ED psychiatric patients can be identified by initial vital signs and a basic history and physical examination. Universal laboratory and toxicologic screening of all patients with psychiatric complaints is of low yield.
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To identify clinical factors that predict which patients presenting to the ED with pneumonia will require respiratory isolation for suspected tuberculosis and to evaluate a protocol for rapid identification of patients at risk for pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). ⋯ Respiratory isolation guidelines for patients admitted from the ED with pneumonia were developed and validated. These guidelines provide satisfactory guidance for isolation of patients at risk for PTB in a high-PTB-prevalence population.
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To determine whether alkalinization with sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) in near-lethal hyperkalemia either lowers potassium (K) rapidly or shortens duration of cardiac conduction disturbances. ⋯ Hypertonic saline bolus lowered plasma K as effectively as NaHCO3 bolus in this animal model within the first 30 minutes. Clinically meaningful decreases due to alkalinization alone within 30 minutes are unlikely.