Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Multicentre prospective observational study to evaluate healthcare impacts of e-scooters on emergency departments.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Methocarbamol versus diazepam in acute low back pain in the emergency department: a randomised double-blind clinical trial.
Acute low back pain (LBP) is a common complaint in the emergency department and achieving effective analgesia can be challenging. ⋯ In patients with LBP, the pain was relieved in the methocarbamol and diazepam groups after 60 min. Although diazepam was more effective, its use was associated with a slightly higher risk of drowsiness.
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Currently, there is no consensus on the number of defibrillation attempts that should be made before transfer to a hospital in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). This study aimed to evaluate the association between the number of defibrillations and a sustained prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). ⋯ We observed no significant increase in ROSC after five defibrillations, and no absolute increase in ROSC after seven defibrillations. These data provide a starting point for determination of the optimal defibrillation strategy prior to consideration for prehospital extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) or conveyance to a hospital with an ECPR capability.
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Comment Letter Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Letter to the editor: Non-sterile gloves and dressing versus sterile gloves, dressings and drapes for suturing of traumatic wounds in the emergency department: a non-inferiority multicentre randomised controlled trial.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Diagnostic performance of S100B as a rule-out test for intracranial pathology in head-injured patients presenting to the emergency department who meet NICE Head Injury Guideline criteria for CT-head scan.
Traumatic brain injury is a common ED presentation. CT-head utilisation is escalating, exacerbating resource pressure in the ED. The biomarker S100B could assist clinicians with CT-head decisions by excluding intracranial pathology. Diagnostic performance of S100B was assessed in patients meeting National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence Head Injury Guideline (NICE HIG) criteria for CT-head within 6 and 24 hours of injury. ⋯ Within 6 hours of injury, S100B performed well as a diagnostic test to exclude significant intracranial pathology in low-risk patients presenting with head injury. In theory, if used in addition to NICE HIGs, CT-head rates could reduce by one-quarter with a potential miss rate of <1%.