Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether the absence of a clinical pulse deficit can be used to exclude dissecting thoracic aneurysm in patients with chest pain. Altogether 89 papers were found using the reported search, of which one was a previous systematic literature review. ⋯ The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. A clinical bottom line is stated.
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A systematic review was undertaken to identify published evidence relating to patient satisfaction in emergency medicine. Reviewed papers were divided into those that identified the factors influencing overall satisfaction in emergency department patients, and those in which a specific intervention was evaluated. Patient age and race influenced satisfaction in some, but not all, studies. ⋯ None of the intervention studies looked specifically at the effect of reducing the perceived waiting time. Key interventions to improve patient satisfaction will be those that develop the interpersonal and attitudinal skills of staff, increase the information provided, and reduce the perceived waiting time. Future research should use a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate specific interventions.
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether the addition of nebulised magnesium sulphate to beta agonist therapy improves outcome in acute asthma. Altogether 69 papers were found using the reported search, of which five presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. A clinical bottom line is stated.