European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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The primary purpose of this prospective cohort study was to characterize the use of the Emergency Department (ED) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations and determine the factors affecting the revisit of COPD patients. This is a prospective cohort study on ambulatory patients with exacerbated chronic bronchitis in an ED setting. Patients included in the study were above 18 years of age, had a previous diagnosis of COPD, and presented to the ED for the treatment of COPD exacerbation. ⋯ Home oxygen therapy, intensive care admission, previous intubation, increased cough, and the number of ED visits in the previous year were associated with increased risk of revisit in the univariate analysis. Increased cough (odds ratio: 0.232; 95% confidence interval: 0.063-0.853) and the number of ED visits in the previous year (odds ratio: 1.166; 95% confidence interval: 1.005-1.353) were still significant after multivariate analysis. In conclusion, the number of ED visits previous year and increased cough can predict the revisit of a COPD exacerbated patient within 14 days of an ED visit.
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To describe the characteristics and outcome in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in relation to (i) whether OHCA was coded by the dispatcher as a diagnosis or as a symptom and (ii) the delay until the first unit was alerted at the dispatch centre. ⋯ Patients with OHCA who were not coded by dispatchers as such had a long delay to the start of CPR and a low survival. Dispatching according to diagnosis, that is, CA seems to improve these parameters most likely reflecting a more optimal communication between the dispatcher and the caller as well as the rescue team.
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Our objective was to study the accuracy of emergency medicine [(EM) bedside ultrasonography (BUS)] and radiology residents performed ultrasonography (RUS) in patients with suspected mechanical small bowel obstruction (SBO). ⋯ Abdominal sonography for the diagnosis of SBO is a new application of BUS in the emergency department. EM residents can diagnose SBO using BUS with a high-degree of accuracy, comparable with that of radiology residents.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of CT head interpretation between emergency physicians and neuroradiologists.
Cranial computed tomography (CT) of the head is widely used in the emergency department 24 h a day. We compared the accuracy of CT head interpretation between staff emergency physicians (EPs) and neuroradiologists. We conducted a health records review of patients who required head CT in the emergency department. ⋯ The weighted kappa for agreement was 0.83 (95% confidence interval 0.76-0.90). None of these patients had adverse outcomes related to EP misinterpretation of the CT head. In conclusion, clinically important findings on CT head are not commonly missed by our EPs and patients rarely have inappropriate disposition.
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This descriptive study presents availability and content of acute pain protocols in emergency departments (EDs) in The Netherlands. Current acute pain protocols were collected and an a priori list of questions was used for analysis. Findings were compared with current international standards. ⋯ Acute pain protocols are lacking in many EDs. Most protocols did not apply current standards. We exposed an area with space for leadership.