European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
-
In acute heart failure (AHF), hemoglobin, red cell distribution width, mean platelet volume, leukocytes, and relative lymphocyte count have been associated with mortality. It is not known whether absolute blood neutrophil, eosinophil, and monocyte counts are mortality predictors. ⋯ AEC of AHF patients measured at admission was found to be a stronger predictor of mortality than all other hemogram parameters and this is consistent with the increased sympatho-adrenal activity theory.
-
Comparative Study
Radiation exposure of ventilated trauma patients in intensive care: a retrospective study comparing two time periods.
To describe the cumulative effective dose of radiation that was received during the initial Emergency Department assessment and ICU stay of patients admitted with trauma, who required mechanical ventilation, during two time periods. ⋯ The radiation exposure of mechanically ventilated trauma patients in intensive care has increased over time. Radiation exposure should be prospectively monitored and staff should be aware of the increased risk resulting from this change in practice.
-
To explore the type and frequency of activities and multitasking performed by emergency department clinicians. ⋯ This study provides new knowledge regarding the activities conducted by clinicians in the emergency department. The most frequent activity was information exchange, which was the activity most often performed by the clinicians when multitasking occurred. Differences between clinicians were found for activities performed and multitasked, with registered nurses showing the highest frequencies for both.
-
To assess the agreement between noncontact infrared thermometer (noncontact) with infrared tympanic thermometer (tympanic) and electronic axillary thermometer (axillary) in an adult emergency department population. ⋯ There is a lack of agreement between body temperature measurements by noncontact, tympanic, and axillary in the adult emergency department population. The easy application may lead noncontact to be the preferable method for healthcare providers but large agreement limits should be considered.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
The effectiveness of patient control analgesia in the treatment of acute traumatic pain in the emergency department: a randomized controlled trial.
Pain seems to be one of the most frequent complaints in the emergency department, however pain control is often suboptimal as seen by many audits. We conducted a study to find out whether the use of patient control analgesia (PCA) is effective in controlling acute pain in the emergency department ⋯ PCA provides more effective pain relief and patient satisfaction when compared with the conventional method of bolus intravenous injection for the relief of traumatic pain in the emergency department setting.