Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Meta Analysis
Diagnostic accuracy of point-of-care ultrasound for paediatric testicular torsion: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Previous studies have examined the utility of ultrasonography performed by radiologists for diagnosing paediatric testicular torsion. While point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is used in paediatric emergency medicine, its diagnostic accuracy is still unknown. ⋯ The present systematic review and meta-analysis showed that POCUS had high sensitivity and specificity for identifying testicular torsion in paediatric patients although the risk of bias was high in the studies analysed.
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The current guidelines of the American Heart Association (AHA) and European Society of Cardiology (ESC) recommend that when right ventricular myocardial infarction (RVMI) is present patients are not administered nitrates, due to the risk that decreasing preload in the setting of already compromised right ventricular ejection fraction may reduce cardiac output and precipitate hypotension. The cohort study (n=40) underlying this recommendation was recently challenged by new studies suitable for meta-analysis (cumulatively, n=1050), suggesting that this topic merits systematic review. ⋯ CRD42020172839.
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Pharmacists have an increasing role as part of the emergency department (ED) team. However, the impact of ED-based pharmacy interventions on the quality use of medicines has not been well characterised. ⋯ CRD42020165234.
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The pandemic has upended much clinical care, irrevocably changing our health systems and thrusting emergency physicians into a time of great uncertainty and change. This study is a follow-up to a survey that examined the early pandemic experience among Canadian emergency physicians and aimed to qualitatively describe the experiences of these physicians during the global pandemic. The study was conducted at a time when Canadian COVID-19 case numbers were low. ⋯ Canadian emergency physicians experienced emotional and psychological distress during the early COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when COVID-19 prevalence was low. This study's findings could guide future interventions to protect emergency physicians against pandemic-related distress.