Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2019
Review Meta AnalysisReview article: Emergency endotracheal intubation in non-traumatic brain pathologies: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Endotracheal intubation is an advanced airway procedure performed in the ED and the out-of-hospital setting for acquired brain injuries that include non-traumatic brain pathologies such as stroke, encephalopathies, seizures and toxidromes. Controlled trial evidence supports intubation in traumatic brain injuries, but it is not clear that this evidence can be applied to non-traumatic brain pathologies. We sought to analyse the impact of emergency intubation on survival in non-traumatic brain pathologies and also to quantify the prevalence of intubation in these pathologies. ⋯ Endotracheal intubation was used commonly in haemorrhagic stroke 79% (95% CI 47-100) and to a lesser extent for seizures 18% (95% CI 10-27) and toxidromes 25% (95% CI 6-48). This systematic review shows that there is no high-quality clinical evidence to support or refute emergency intubation in non-traumatic brain pathologies. Our analysis shows that intubation is commonly used in non-traumatic brain pathologies, and the need for rigorous evidence is apparent.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2019
Multicenter StudyPaediatric intentional head injuries in the emergency department: A multicentre prospective cohort study.
Although there is a large body of research on head injury (HI) inflicted by caregivers in young children, little is known about intentional HI in older children and inflicted HI by perpetrators other than carers. Therefore, we set out to describe epidemiology, demographics and severity of intentional HIs in childhood. ⋯ Intentional HI is infrequent in children. The most frequently identified perpetrators are caregivers and peers. Caregiver injuries are particularly severe.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2019
ReviewReview article: A primer for clinical researchers in the emergency department: Part IX. How to conduct a systematic review in the field of emergency medicine.
In this series we address important topics for emergency clinicians who either participate in research as part of their work, or use the knowledge generated by research studies. Emergency clinicians are routinely in the position of applying new evidence in clinical practice. With an ever-increasing volume of evidence generated, this can be problematic when studies are conducted in different settings, and include different patient groups, different interventions and different outcomes. ⋯ Systematic reviews are becoming increasingly valuable as they appraise and synthesise research findings using a clear methodology, and summarise the results of primary studies. As such, systematic reviews help translate research findings into clinical practice. This paper provides a practical starting point for understanding the steps involved in conducting a systematic review in emergency medicine and will help readers appraise the findings of systematic reviews.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2019
ReviewReview article: Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patient presentations to the emergency department via police: A scoping review.
People brought in by police (BIBP) to the ED are a potentially vulnerable group. This narrative scoping review aimed to identify, evaluate and summarise current literature regarding the frequency of presentation, demographic and clinical profile of patients (including reason for presentation), care delivery, and outcomes for people BIBP to the ED, and identify current gaps in knowledge. The review involved searching EMBASE, CINAHL and PubMed using a combination of terms: emergency/ED coupled with police custody/watch house or police presentation, for papers published in English language from January 2006 to November 2017. ⋯ The nature of care provided in the ED and outcomes of the acute episode of care were typically not well described. Limited research regarding people BIBP to the ED limits the ability to comprehensively understand their demographic and clinical profile and outcomes of emergency care. Further research is required to inform if and where in the patient's journey further improvements may be targeted.