J Emerg Med
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Children aged 0-4 years have the highest rate of emergency department (ED) visits for traumatic brain injury (TBI); falls are the leading cause. Infants younger than 2 years are more likely to sustain a fractured skull after a fall. ⋯ Fall-related fractured skulls are a health and developmental concern for infants, highlighting the importance of a comprehensive assessment at the time of the injury to better understand adult actions. Findings indicated the need to develop prevention messages that include safe carrying and placement of infants.
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For many emergency physicians (EPs), deciding whether or not to allow a patient suffering the ill effects of opioid use to refuse care is the most frequent and fraught situation in which they encounter issues of decision-making capacity, informed refusal, and autonomy. Despite the frequency of this issue and the well-known impacts of opioid use disorder on decision-making, the medical ethics community has offered little targeted analysis or guidance regarding these situations. ⋯ Successfully navigating this issue requires that EPs understand the specific effects that opioid use disorder has on decision-making, and how that in turn bears on the ethical concepts of autonomy, capacity, and informed refusal. Understanding these concepts can lead to helpful strategies to resolve these commonly-encountered dilemmas.
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Observational Study
Frequency of Persistent Opioid Use 6 Months After Exposure to IV Opioids in the Emergency Department: A Prospective Cohort Study.
As rates of opioid use disorder in the general population have increased, some have questioned whether IV opioids should be used routinely for treatment of acute severe pain in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Among 506 opioid naïve ED patients administered IV opioids for acute severe pain, only one used opioids persistently during the subsequent 6 months.
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The Shock Index (SI) is emerging as a potentially useful measure among children with injury or suspected sepsis. ⋯ An elevated SI is indicative of greater resource utilization needs among children in the ED. When using any criteria, an elevated SI was associated with clinically important outcomes. Further research is required to evaluate the distribution of the SI in children and to investigate its potential role within existing triage algorithms for children in the ED.