Articles: emergency-department.
-
Observational Study
The Impact of Point-of-Care Ultrasound on the Diagnosis and Management of Small Bowel Obstruction in the Emergency Department: A Retrospective Observational Single-Center Study.
Background and Objectives: Small bowel obstruction (SBO) requires prompt diagnosis and management. Due to its advantages, POCUS can be beneficial when assessing SBO. However, it is still doubtful whether POCUS performed by an emergency doctor can prolong the time of patients with SBO in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Five non-POCUS patients died during hospitalization; none died in the POCUS group, but the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.063). Conclusions: POCUS significantly reduced time to diagnosis and ED LOS. Further exploration is needed to assess long-term outcomes and the cost-effectiveness of integrating POCUS into ED practice.
-
To investigate the association between patient-to-physician ratios, a measure of physician workload, and various patient outcomes in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Higher patient-to-physician ratios are associated with worse outcomes for ED patients. Our findings suggest that maintaining ratios below 10 may be ideal for optimizing care quality, while ratios exceeding 20 pose significant risks to patients.
-
Review
Antibody-Drug Conjugates: The Toxicities and Adverse Effects That Emergency Physicians Must Know.
Antibody-drug conjugates are novel antineoplastic agents whose use is expanding, both in terms of the number of drugs and the number of patients being treated. This article reviews the known toxicities and complications of antibody-drug conjugates that are currently approved for the treatment of cancer in the United States, with a focus on their emergency presentation and management. Similar to many other cancer therapies, most antibody-drug conjugates can cause diarrhea, nausea/vomiting, rash, peripheral neuropathy, and cytopenia, which are generally treated following standard-of-care. ⋯ Tisotumab vedotin and trastuzumab emtansine are associated with bleeding; although it is minor in most cases, severe bleeding and intracranial hemorrhage have occurred. Several antibody-drug conjugates can cause an anaphylactoid infusion-related reaction, which occurs most commonly during or soon after infusion but may be delayed up to 24 hours. Further research is needed to establish the real-world incidence of rare complications and how often patients with these complications present to the emergency department.
-
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sexually transmitted infection (STI) treatment guidelines state that the decision to provide STI/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing and presumptive treatment after sexual assault (SA) should be made on an individual basis to minimize retraumatization of the patient. However, little is known about STI screening, presumptive treatment, and positivity in the emergency department (ED) setting. The objective of this study was to evaluate STI testing rates and positivity, presumptive gonorrhea and chlamydia treatment, pregnancy testing, and emergency contraception offered to SA survivors in the ED in the United States. ⋯ Low STI testing and treatment rates and high STI positivity identified in this study suggest that an important opportunity exists for improving STI screening and presumptive treatment for female patients presenting to the ED after SA.