Articles: emergency-department.
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One of the highest rates of illicit cocaine consumption in Europe is in Spain. Our objective was to study the incidence and impact of undisclosed cocaine consumption in patients attending the emergency department (ED) for trauma or chest pain. ⋯ Thirty percent of eligible patients participated. Of 75 cases, 61.3% had trauma and 38.7% chest pain; 25% presented a positive test for drugs. Cocaine was present in 13.3% and cannabis in the same proportion. No differences were found regarding positive cocaine test and chief complaint, ED or hospital stay, or additional tests. Cocaine-positive patients were significantly younger.
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J Vasc Interv Neurol · Jul 2008
Mode of arrival to the emergency department of stroke patients in the United States.
The modality of transport to the emergency department has implications for triage, evaluation, and treatment of patients with stroke. We performed this study to determine the national trends in modes of arrival in patients with stroke and its association with emergency department evaluation in a nationally representative sample of United States. ⋯ Although arrival by ambulance was associated with a higher level of care, a prominent proportion of patients with suspected stroke are not arriving by ambulance to the ED.
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WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THIS TOPIC: Procalcitonin is a biomarker that appears to correlate with bacterial infection. WHAT QUESTION THIS STUDY ADDRESSED: Does a procalcitonin level add prognostic information for pneumonia patients in conjunction with scoring systems such as the Pneumonia Severity Index or CURB-65? WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS TO OUR KNOWLEDGE: Among 1,651 patients with community-acquired pneumonia in 28 US emergency departments, procalcitonin levels did not add prognostic information for most pneumonia patients. ⋯ HOW THIS MIGHT CHANGE CLINICAL PRACTICE: Clinicians should continue using validated prognostic scoring systems for pneumonia. Low procalcitonin level could be considered as a factor for selected patients who would otherwise be considered high risk to be treated in a lower acuity setting.