European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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To analyse the presence of women on the editorial teams of emergency medicine journals and the potential relationship between the pre-eminence of the journal and their presence. ⋯ Very few women are found either on editorial teams or in editor-in-chief positions in the emergency medicine journals, irrespective of the pre-eminence of the journal. It should be investigated whether a negative journal bias underlies these findings.
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To evaluate a Clinical Decision Unit (CDU) designed to utilize alternatives to emergency hospitalization. CDUs are one model of care designed to strengthen the gatekeeper role of Emergency Departments (EDs). ⋯ This CDU model was associated with statistically and clinically significant reductions in hospital admissions. The judicious application of this CDU model to other ED environments can be expected to yield similar benefits.
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The management of wounds in children is stressful, not only for the child, but also for parents and staff. In our Emergency Department (ED), we currently do not have a paediatric sedation policy, and thus children requiring suturing, not amenable to distraction and infiltrative anaesthesia, are referred to specialty teams for general anaesthesia. We proposed that the introduction of a topical anaesthetic gel (lidocaine, adrenaline, tetracaine - LAT) might help to reduce the number of referrals, by allowing the ED staff to perform the procedures, in combination with nonpharmacological approaches. ⋯ We have found that the introduction of topical anaesthetic gel in ED has significantly reduced the number of children with wounds referred to specialty teams for general anaesthesia. This has important implications for patient safety and hospital resources.
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This study's objective was to ascertain emergency department (ED) patient preferences for pain assessment frequency. This was a prospective, convenience-sample trial of all-diagnosis adults with pain at least 3/10, in an academic ED (census 90 000). Using a computer-based automated pain tracker, patients entered initial pain level and indicated how frequently they wanted pain assessed. ⋯ Regression was used to assess relationships between patient factors and the endpoint 'frequency of preferred pain assessment.' There was no association between initially suggested time interval (median, 15 min) and sex (P = 0.455), race (P = 0.976), age (P = 0.391), or in-room visitors (P = 0.956). Pain severity was associated with preference for more frequent pain assessment (P = 0.009). ED patients' preference for pain assessment is approximately 15 min, with more frequent intervals preferred when pain is severe.
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Page kidney is a rare phenomenon of hyperreninemic hypertension caused by compression of the renal parenchyma. It has been reported in healthy individuals after blunt abdominal or flank trauma, and in patients after invasive nephrological interventions. We present a case of acute on chronic renal failure and Page kidney phenomenon in an elderly male after a traumatic fall, who underwent effective medical management until spontaneous recovery to baseline was observed. A brief discussion on the Page kidney phenomenon is provided with a suggested algorithmic approach towards the management of this process.