Can J Emerg Med
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The new Vancouver Chest Pain (VCP) Rule recommends early discharge for chest pain patients who are at low risk of developing acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and thus can be discharged within 2 hours of arrival at the emergency department (ED). This study aimed to assess the performance of the new VCP Rule for Asian patients presenting with chest pain at the ED. ⋯ We found the new VCP Rule to have moderate sensitivity and poor specificity for adverse cardiac events in our population. With an NPV of less than 100%, this means that a small proportion of patients sent home with early discharge would still have adverse cardiac events.
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Observational Study
Delayed sequence intubation: is it ready for prime time?
Clinical question Does delayed sequence intubation (DSI) improve preoxygenation and safety when intubating otherwise uncooperative patients? Article chosen Weingart SD, Trueger S, Wong N, et al. Delayed sequence intubation: a prospective observational study. Ann Emerg Med 2015;65(4):349-55. doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2014.09.025 To investigate whether the administration of ketamine 3 minutes prior to the administration of a muscle relaxant allows for optimal preoxygenation in uncooperative patients undergoing intubation.
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Herpes zoster, commonly called shingles, is a disease that results from the reactivation of varicella zoster virus. Local trauma has been reported as a precipitant for reactivation, but this condition is rarely seen localized to a fresh surgical incision. We present the case of a patient who developed shingles overlying the incision site of a recently buried central venous access port, illustrating the need to consider this diagnosis as a unique imposter of localized infection or reaction at sites of recent procedural trauma.