Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
A multicenter comparison of tap water versus sterile saline for wound irrigation.
To compare wound infection rates for irrigation with tap water versus sterile saline before closure of wounds in the emergency department. ⋯ Equivalent rates of wound infection were found using either irrigant. The results of this multicenter trial evaluating tap water as an irrigant agree with those from previous single institution trials.
-
Multicenter Study
Estimated risk for undiagnosed diabetes in the emergency department: a multicenter survey.
One third of the 21 million Americans with diabetes remain undiagnosed. The emergency department (ED) is a novel setting for diabetes screening. ⋯ Many ED patients in the study had risk factors for undiagnosed diabetes. Patient attitudes toward ED-based diabetes screening support further exploration of this important and currently underutilized opportunity for public health intervention.
-
To characterize older adult emergency department (ED) visits arriving by emergency medical services (EMS) and to identify factors associated with those patient visits. ⋯ Older adults account for a large proportion of EMS responses and use EMS at a disproportionately high rate. As the older adult population grows, EMS systems must prepare for the increased volume of older adults by making changes in training, operations, and equipment.
-
An estimate of a child's weight is required for critical interventions, particularly pharmacotherapy. Weight measurement is not always practical, so weight estimation methods are used. Recently, a new weight estimation formula was suggested. The Argall formula estimates weight in kilograms as follows: (age in years + 2) x 3. ⋯ The Argall weight estimation formula has poor accuracy for weight estimation in Australian children, in particular those weighing more than 35 kg.
-
To characterize the initial management of patients with sickle cell disease and an acute pain episode, to compare these practices with the American Pain Society Guideline for the Management of Acute and Chronic Pain in Sickle-Cell Disease in the emergency department, and to identify factors associated with a delay in receiving an initial analgesic. ⋯ Patients with an acute painful episode related to sickle cell disease experienced significant delays to administration of an initial analgesic.