Articles: emergency-department.
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To determine the agents used by emergency medicine (EM) physicians in pediatric procedural sedation and the associated adverse events (AEs) and to provide recommendations for optimizing drug therapy in pediatric patients. ⋯ EM-trained physicians can safely perform pediatric procedural sedation in the ED. In the pediatric ED, the most common procedure requiring conscious sedation is fracture reduction, with ketamine as the preferred agent.
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To describe the demographic characteristics and incidence of unintentional fall-related fractures among older adults treated in the US hospital emergency departments (EDs). ⋯ The oldest old, women and lower trunk fractures account for the majority of fall-related fractures among persons aged 65 years or older treated in US hospital EDs. Increasing ED visits and hospitalisations for fall-related fracture among older adults deserve further research.
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ABSTRACTObjectives:Requests for specialty consultation are common in emergency departments (EDs) and often contribute to delays in throughput. Our objectives were to describe the contribution of the consultation process to total ED length of stay (LOS) through novel metrics and illustrate causes of delay. Methods:We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study at three Canadian tertiary care centres. ⋯ Conclusion:The consultation process is highly variable and has an important impact on ED LOS. We describe novel measures related to consultation performance and provide an analysis of what causes delays. These results can be used to seek improvements in the consulting process.
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ABSTRACTInfective endocarditis (IE) is a rare but serious condition. We present a case of endocarditis in a healthy 40-year-old male with no predisposing conditions. ⋯ After treatment, he later presented to the emergency department with abdominal pain, and a superior mesenteric artery aneurysm was discovered. We discuss recent advances in the changing epidemiology and microbiology of IE, review the presentation and diagnosis of IE, and highlight the potential complications of this disease.
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ABSTRACTTrimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX), also known as Septra, is a commonly encountered and prescribed antibiotic in emergency department patients. The side effects associated with TMP/SMX are generally mild and self-limited, but serious side effects, including Stevens-Johnson syndrome and drug-induced aseptic meningitis, have been reported. We discuss the case of a 33-year-old woman who presented to our emergency department with the signs and symptoms of meningeal inflammation after being prescribed TMP/SMX 3 days earlier for an abscess with cellulitis.