Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Observational Study
Cross-sectional study of the characteristics, healthcare usage, morbidity and mortality of injecting drug users attending an inner city emergency department.
The affliction of injecting drug use (IDU) has resulted in the emergence of a subgroup of people with a unique set of medical issues. We aimed to describe the emergency department (ED) presentations of IDUs. ⋯ Our study characterises the emergency presentations of active IDUs. We describe considerable acute and chronic medical consequences and high healthcare utilisation associated with IDU. This study is of particular relevance to any institution that provides acute medical care to this group of patients.
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Adolescence is a time of increasing health and peak fitness, as well as increasing health risks. In the UK, primary care is free at the point of access, yet, adolescents aged 10-19 years are the lowest users of primary care services, and disproportionately high users of emergency services. The effect of new general practitioner (GP)-led urgent care centres in meeting the needs of adolescents are unknown. ⋯ Adolescents aged 15-19 years are more likely to attend urgent care centres than general practice. The majority attended for conditions commonly seen in primary care including musculoskeletal conditions and injuries, and respiratory tract infections. Primary care services may need to be more responsive to needs of the older adolescent age, if their use of urgent care centres is to be reduced.
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This study illustrates the potential of using emergency department attendance data, routinely accessed as part of a national syndromic surveillance system, to monitor the impact of thunderstorm asthma. ⋯ This preliminary report illustrates the potential of the EDSSS to monitor the impact of thunderstorms on emergency department asthma attendances. Further work will focus on how this system can be used to quantify the impact on emergency departments, thus potentially improving resource planning and also adding to the thunderstorm asthma evidence-base.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
STOP!: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the efficacy and safety of methoxyflurane for the treatment of acute pain.
To evaluate the short-term efficacy and safety of methoxyflurane for the treatment of acute pain in patients presenting to an emergency department (ED) with minor trauma. ⋯ The results of this study suggest that methoxyflurane administered via the Penthrox inhaler is an efficacious, safe, and rapidly acting analgesic.