Revista portuguesa de cardiologia : orgão oficial da Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia = Portuguese journal of cardiology : an official journal of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology
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A growing number of hospitals have implemented the Manchester Triage System (MTS) in their Emergency Department (ED), so as to better prioritize the evaluation of those attending these departments. ⋯ Most patients admitted for ACS are initially triaged as orange or yellow, an indication for prompt assessment in the ED; this has a positive effect on time to first medical assessment, but has no effect on time to hospital admission.
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Bilevel positive pressure (BiPAP) non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is frequently used in our emergency department (ED), as an adjuvant in the treatment of acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema (ACPE) to reduce the need for tracheal intubation (TI) in these patients. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the safety of NIV in patients with ACPE in our ED, used by a group of physicians outside the intensive care unit (ICU), by comparing our results with previously published results. We also wanted to identify possible additional advantages of NIV in the treatment of acpe. ⋯ We observed a statistically significant improvement after one hour of NIV in respiratory and pulse rate, arterial pH, PaCO2 and peripheral blood O2 saturation. Despite the small sample size, these results suggest that it is possible to use NIV in the treatment of ACPE outside the ICU, without increasing the risks of TI or decreasing efficacy. In these cases NIV probably accelerates clinical resolution and relieves symptoms.