Articles: emergency-department.
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There is an increasing awareness of unvaccinated adults presenting with epiglottitis to the emergency department. This study examines the clinical presentations and outcomes of diagnosed cases of adult epiglottitis presenting to all emergency departments in Hamilton, Ont., between 1999 and 2003. ⋯ Adults presenting with epiglottitis to the emergency department in Hamilton have good outcomes, with less airway management required than previously reported in children. Further study is needed to see if these conclusions are similar in other populations.
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A reliable emergency department (ED) workload measurement tool would provide a method of quantifying clinical productivity for performance evaluation and physician incentive programs; it would enable health administrators to measure ED outputs; and it could provide the basis for an equitable formula to estimate ED physician staffing requirements. Our objectives were to identify predictors that correlate with physician time needed to treat patients and to develop a multivariable model to predict physician workload. ⋯ This study clarifies important determinants of emergency physician workload. If validated in other settings, the predictive formula derived and internally validated here is a potential alternative to current simplistic models based solely on patient volume and perceived acuity. An evidence-based workload estimation tool like that described here could facilitate ED productivity measurement, benchmarking, physician performance evaluation, and provide the substrate for an equitable formula to estimate ED physician staffing requirements.
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Elbow injuries in children are a common presenting complaint to the emergency department. Although radiography is a valuable tool in the diagnosis of this injury, x-rays of the injured elbow are inherently difficult to interpret. As a result, comparison views of the uninjured arm have traditionally been recommended to provide an anatomically "normal" radiograph. Recent studies have questioned the use of comparison views in the pediatric emergency department. The primary objective of this study was to determine current practices of non-pediatric emergency physicians in the use of comparison views for the diagnosis of elbow injuries in children. ⋯ This survey demonstrates that non-pediatric emergency physicians are using comparison views selectively for elbow injuries in children, despite being only "somewhat" confident in interpreting the x-rays.
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To identify the rate of treatment failure in emergency department patients with cellulitis. ⋯ The treatment of cellulitis with daily emergency department-based intravenous antibiotics has a failure rate of more than 25% in our centre. Cellulitis patients with a larger surface area of infection and previous (failed) oral therapy are more likely to fail treatment. Further research should focus on defining eligibility for treatment with emergency department-based intravenous antibiotics.
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Traditionally, patients have to wait until assessed by a physician for opioid analgesia to be administered, which contributes to delays to analgesia. Western Hospital developed a protocol enabling nurses to initiate opioid analgesia prior to medical assessment for selected conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of this protocol on time to first opioid dose in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with renal or biliary colic. ⋯ A nurse-initiated opioid analgesia protocol reduces delays to opioid analgesia for patients with renal and biliary colic.