European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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To determine the factors influencing attendance at a Paediatric Emergency Department with conditions suitable for management in less acute settings. ⋯ Parental uncertainty and a low tolerance of risk among parents and healthcare professionals increases the likelihood of emergency department attendance. Parents are likely to continue to utilise the Paediatric Emergency Department for minor conditions. Future strategies should focus on improving outcomes for children with non-urgent problems who access care at the emergency department rather than discouraging utilisation.
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Presentation to the emergency department with renal colic has been reported as between 6.7 and 27.9 per 1000 emergency department visits. Clinicians rely on various radiological investigations for the prompt and accurate diagnosis of urolithiasis. This review assesses the validity of the colour Doppler ultrasonographic twinkling artefact (TA) sign as a diagnostic tool for the presence of urolithiasis. ⋯ Meta-analysis of the studies that provided sufficient data resulted in a pooled sensitivity and specificity for the ultrasonographic TA sign of 88.16 [95% confidence interval (CI): 87.07-89.19%] and 79.22% (95% CI: 73.41-84.26%) respectively, with an estimated summary effect of 3.84 (95% CI: 1.08-6.60, P 0.006) in log odds ratio terms. There was significant interstudy heterogeneity as suggested by an I-statistic of 94.51% (95% CI: 94.51-99.58) and an estimated τ parameter of 7.21 (SE: 7.44). Despite the suboptimal pooled sensitivity and specificity of the TA sign and the large heterogeneity between published studies, the current body of evidence suggests that the colour Doppler ultrasonographic TA sign may be useful as a complementary tool in the diagnostic workup of patients with suspected urolithiasis.
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Direct medical control using video conferencing capabilities of smartphones has never been conducted in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients. This study was conducted to investigate the feasibility and treatment effectiveness of real-time smartphone video conferencing calls for the management of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. ⋯ We concluded that a multidisciplinary approach including the re-education of basic life support, simulation training for advanced life support, real-time medical direction via video call, and dispatching two teams rather than one team improved the outcome of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.