European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Observational Study
The association between prehospital post-return of spontaneous circulation core temperature and survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
Following the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), a low body temperature on arrival at the hospital and on admission to the ICU is reportedly associated with increased mortality. Whether this association exists in the prehospital setting, however, is unknown. ⋯ In adult patients with ROSC following OHCA, early prehospital core temperature is independently associated with survival to hospital discharge.
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Observational Study
Older age and risk for delayed abdominal pain care in the emergency department.
Suboptimal acute pain care has been previously reported to be associated with demographic characteristics. ⋯ In a consecutive series of patients with abdominal pain, advancing age was the only demographic variable associated with prolonged time to initial analgesia. Older patients were found to have a linearly increasing, age-dependent risk for prolonged wait for pain care.
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Intravenous digoxin is still used in emergency departments (EDs) to treat patients with acute heart failure (AHF), especially in those with rapid atrial fibrillation. Nonetheless, many emergency physicians are reluctant to use intravenous digoxin in patients with advanced age, impaired renal function, and potassium disturbances due to its potential capacity to increase adverse outcomes. ⋯ The use of intravenous digoxin in the ED was not associated with significant changes in 30-day mortality, which was confirmed irrespective of patient age or the existence of renal dysfunction or serum potassium disturbances.
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Letter Randomized Controlled Trial
Preventive anticoagulation in emergency department patients: insights from the CASTING randomized controlled trial.