Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Observational Study
An observational study of patients' attitudes to tattoos and piercings on their physicians: the ART study.
Perceptions regarding body art change over time as societal norms change. Previous research regarding patients' perceptions of physicians with exposed body art have been hampered by flaws in design methodology that incorporate biases into patient responses. This study was performed to determine whether emergency department (ED) patients perceived a difference in physician competence, professionalism, caring, approachability, trustworthiness and reliability in the setting of exposed body art. ⋯ In the clinical setting, having exposed body art does not significantly change patients' perception of the physician.
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Warming intravenous fluids is essential to prevent hypothermia in patients with trauma, especially when large volumes are administered. Prehospital and transport settings require fluid warmers to be small, energy efficient and independent of external power supply. We compared the warming properties and resistance to flow of currently available battery-operated fluid warmers. ⋯ We found significant differences between the fluid warmers: the use of the Buddy Lite should be limited to moderate input temperature and low flow rates. The use of the Thermal Angel is limited to low volumes due to battery capacity and low output temperature at extreme conditions. The Warrior provides the best warming performance at high infusion rates, as well as low input temperatures, and was able to warm the largest volumes in these conditions.
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Interarm systolic BP differential is a classic sign of acute aortic dissection (AAD). All previous studies looking at the association of BP differential with AAD combine systolic BP differential >20 mm Hg with pulse deficit. Our aim was to assess the association of systolic BP differential with AAD, and its role in predicting AAD in the context of other signs and symptoms. ⋯ Bilateral systolic BP differentials >20 mm Hg are associated with non-traumatic AAD. However, the poor diagnostic accuracy and potential variability in measurement limits its clinical usefulness.