Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Review Meta Analysis
Does the early administration of beta-blockers improve the in-hospital mortality rate of patients admitted with acute coronary syndrome?
Beta-blockade is currently recommended in the early management of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). This was a systematic review of the medical literature to determine if early beta-blockade improves the outcome of patients with ACS. ⋯ This systematic review failed to demonstrate a convincing in-hospital mortality benefit for using beta-blockers early in the course of patients with an acute or suspected MI.
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Review Comparative Study
Sensitivity of bedside ultrasound and supine anteroposterior chest radiographs for the identification of pneumothorax after blunt trauma.
Supine anteroposterior (AP) chest radiographs in patients with blunt trauma have poor sensitivity for the identification of pneumothorax. Ultrasound (US) has been proposed as an alternative screening test for pneumothorax in this population. The authors conducted an evidence-based review of the medical literature to compare sensitivity of bedside US and AP chest radiographs in identifying pneumothorax after blunt trauma. ⋯ This evidence-based review suggests that bedside thoracic US is a more sensitive screening test than supine AP chest radiography for the detection of pneumothorax in adult patients with blunt chest trauma.