Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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The Academy of Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine (CDEM) provides a forum for the collaborative exchange of ideas among emergency medicine (EM) medical student educators, a platform for the advancement of education, research, and faculty development, and establishes for the first time a national voice for undergraduate medical education within our specialty. CDEM plans to take a leading role in providing medical student educators with additional educational resources and opportunities for faculty development and networking. ⋯ To accomplish our goals, at the departmental, medical school, and national level, we must come together to further promote our specialty across the spectrum of undergraduate medical education. The first step has already been taken with the formation of the Academy of CDEM.
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Multicenter Study
Interobserver agreement in assessment of clinical variables in children with blunt head trauma.
To be useful in development of clinical decision rules, clinical variables must demonstrate acceptable agreement when assessed by different observers. The objective was to determine the interobserver agreement in the assessment of historical and physical examination findings of children undergoing emergency department (ED) evaluation for blunt head trauma. ⋯ Both subjective and objective clinical variables in children with blunt head trauma can be assessed by different observers with acceptable agreement, making these variables suitable candidates for clinical decision rules.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Olanzapine versus droperidol for the treatment of primary headache in the emergency department.
The objective was to determine if there is a difference in pain relief or frequency and severity of side effects in emergency department (ED) patients with primary headache treated with either intramuscular (IM) olanzapine or IM droperidol. ⋯ Both olanzapine and droperidol are effective treatments for primary headaches in the ED. No significant differences were found between the medications in terms of pain relief, antiemetic effect, or akathisia. Olanzapine may be used to treat primary headache and it is an effective alternative to droperidol.
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The subspecialty of international emergency medicine (IEM) continues to grow within the United States, just as the specialty of emergency medicine (EM) continues to spread to both developed and developing countries around the world. One of the greatest obstacles, however, faced by IEM researchers and practitioners alike, remains the lack of a high-quality, consolidated, and easily accessible evidence-base of literature. ⋯ Articles were selected for the review according to explicit, predetermined criteria that included both methodologic quality and perceived impact of the research. It is hoped that this annual review will act as a forum for disseminating best practices, while also stimulating further research in the field of IEM.
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Multicenter Study
Tandem measurement of D-dimer and myeloperoxidase or C-reactive protein to effectively screen for pulmonary embolism in the emergency department.
The hypothesis was that the tandem measurement of D-dimer and myeloperoxidase (MPO) or C-reactive protein (CRP) could significantly decrease unnecessary pulmonary vascular imaging in emergency department (ED) patients evaluated for pulmonary embolism (PE) compared to D-dimer alone. ⋯ The tandem measurement of D-dimer and MPO would have significantly decreased negative pulmonary vascular imaging compared with D-dimer alone and should be validated prospectively.