Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To determine what proportion of eligible patients, when referred to a primary care physician for pneumococcal vaccination with a prescription, actually obtain the vaccination. To ascertain the number of eligible patients who would receive the vaccination in the emergency department (ED), if available. ⋯ The percentage of ED patients who used prescription referral to the primary care network for pneumococcal vaccination was approximately 10%. The use of a referral by prescription method in this setting was not a reliable means of increasing the number of patients receiving the pneumococcal vaccination.
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Comparative Study
Dose-dependent hemodynamic effect of digoxin therapy in severe verapamil toxicity.
Calcium chloride (CaCl(2)) alone is an ineffective antidote in severe calcium channel antagonist overdoses. Digoxin has been evaluated as a therapy to increase the effectiveness of calcium in severe calcium channel antagonist overdoses. ⋯ There is a dose-dependent effect of digoxin on systolic blood pressure and maximal ventricular pressure in the setting of severe verapamil toxicity treated with high-dose CaCl(2).
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Comparative Study
Repeat patients to the emergency department in a statewide database.
To describe the epidemiology of repeat users of the emergency department (ED) using a statewide database. ⋯ Due to the high turnover in serial patients, control groups in future studies are necessary to evaluate interventions aimed at decreasing serial ED use. The likelihood of serial ED users to use multiple EDs indicates that those studying serial ED use should collect data from multiple EDs.
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Pain scores improve analgesic administration patterns for trauma patients in the emergency department.
To determine the efficacy of pain scores in improving pain management practices for trauma patients in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Pain assessment using VPS increased the likelihood of analgesic administration to trauma patients with higher pain scores in the ED.
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To determine how ambulance transportation is associated with resource use in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ This preliminary study indicates that patients arriving at the ED by ambulance use significantly more resources than their walk-in counterparts.