Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialSenior work-up assessment and treatment team in an emergency department: A randomised control trial.
To evaluate the impact of a senior early assessment model of care on performance measures in a single ED. ⋯ A senior early assessment model of care was not associated with improved overall NEAT performance and ED length of stay. However, there is evidence that improvements were made in the subgroup of discharged patients. There was no difference in overall NEAT performance among the three study groups.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2014
ReviewReview article: Maxillofacial emergencies: Oral pain and odontogenic infections.
Oral pain and odontogenic infections are common reasons for patients to present to EDs and general medical practice in Australia. Although most odontogenic infections can be managed on an outpatient basis, because of their proximity to the airway, infections in this region can be life threatening, requiring urgent surgical intervention and ICU management. This article focuses on the emergency assessment, triage and non-specialist management of oral pain and odontogenic infections.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2014
Overdose with modified-release paracetamol (Panadol Osteo®) presenting to a metropolitan emergency medicine network: A case series.
There are currently no large cases series documenting poisoning with paracetamol modified-release (Panadol Osteo®, GlaxoSmithKline, Sydney, NSW, Australia). Management guidelines recommend at least two serum paracetamol concentrations 4 h apart and initiating treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) if more than 10 g is ingested. ⋯ Most patients presenting with Panadol Osteo® poisoning requiring NAC treatment had an initial serum paracetamol concentration indicating need for treatment. A small number of late treatment nomogram line-crossers was seen on repeat paracetamol estimation. The current guideline for Panadol Osteo® poisoning would have detected all cases requiring NAC treatment.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2014
Trainee perspectives on usefulness of the Trainee Research Requirement.
To determine trainee perspectives of the utility of a trainee research project (TRP) or the coursework pathway (CP) in completing the Trainee Research Requirement of the ACEM. ⋯ More ACEM trainees are undertaking the CP compared with a TRP. The CP was associated with better self-reported fulfilment of the ACEM learning objectives for research. There is scope for the ACEM to improve the experience of trainees wishing to undertake their own research projects.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2014
Observational StudyPredicting admission of patients by their presentation to the emergency department.
The present study aims to determine the importance of certain factors in predicting the need of hospital admission for a patient in the ED. ⋯ Certain characteristics of patients as they present to hospital predict their admission. The accuracy of the triage nurses' prediction for disposition of patients is the same as that afforded by a model constructed from these characteristics. Blood test results improve disposition accuracy only slightly so admission decisions should not always wait for these results.