Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
-
To prospectively validate a previously published out-of-hospital clinical decision rule to identify seriously injured children involved in motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). ⋯ Although definitive conclusions are limited by the sample size, the decision rule identified all seriously injured children involved in MVCs and had moderate specificity. The decision rule was less sensitive for identifying children requiring specialized trauma care. Larger validation studies are needed to adequately assess the utility of this rule before implementation.
-
Preparing medical students for residency in emergency medicine involves education in many areas of knowledge and skill, including instruction in advanced emergency procedures. ⋯ These findings support the value of an advanced emergency procedural training course using an unembalmed cadaver-based laboratory and incorporating several teaching modalities.
-
To evaluate the utility of routine abdominal computed tomographic (CT) scanning for abdominal evaluation of blunt trauma patients before urgent extra-abdominal surgery. ⋯ Abdominal CT scanning has a low yield in trauma patients whose sole indication for diagnostic abdominal evaluation is the need for general anesthesia for urgent extra-abdominal surgery. A small percentage of these patients, however, will have important intra-abdominal injuries such that further refinement of the recommendations for diagnostic study in this select population is needed.
-
While trauma registries have the potential to collect detailed information about patient outcomes, the most commonly reported outcome, mortality, only represents the outcome from a small proportion of the total trauma population. If trauma registries are to progress to routine monitoring of outcomes in trauma survivors, instruments that measure relevant outcomes in the remainder of the trauma population must be identified and implemented. This report provides an overview of the specific needs of trauma registries with respect to assessing patient outcomes other than mortality. The use of previously recommended outcome assessment instruments is discussed, with a focus on the utility of these instruments for use in routine monitoring of trauma outcomes other than mortality through trauma registries.
-
Comparative Study
Obese patients with abdominal pain presenting to the emergency department do not require more time or resources for evaluation than nonobese patients.
The authors describe the evaluation of obese and nonobese adult patients with abdominal pain presenting to an emergency department (ED). The hypothesis was that more ED and hospital resources are used to evaluate and treat obese patients. ⋯ In contradiction to the hypothesis, the results suggest that LOS and ED resource use in obese patients with abdominal pain are not increased when compared with nonobese patients.