Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2005
Factors associated with walkout of patients from New South Wales hospital emergency departments, Australia.
To explore the association between daily patient numbers, sociodemographic, clinical and system characteristics and walkout rates of patients from New South Wales (NSW) public hospital ED (without seeing a medical officer). ⋯ After adjusting for triage category (urgency of presentation) and triage time, patients from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and those without private health insurance coverage were more likely to leave ED without treatment. These results have important implications for Health Services. Future strategies aimed at minimizing walkouts from public hospital ED should prioritize and target factors identified in the present study.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2005
Occult pneumothorax in trauma patients: should this be sought in the focused assessment with sonography for trauma examination?
At present, CT scan is the gold standard for detecting occult traumatic pneumothorax not apparent on supine chest X-ray radiograph. Recently there were suggestions to expand focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) to include thoracic ultrasound for detecting pneumothorax. The aim of the present study is to determine the incidence of occult pneumothorax (as shown by CT) in the subgroup of trauma patients undergoing FAST. ⋯ The incidence of occult pneumothorax in the subgroup of trauma patients undergoing FAST is low. It implies that routine screening for its presence by adding thoracic ultrasound to FAST is unnecessary. Identifying those at risk of occult pneumothorax for further investigation appeared feasible.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2005
Case ReportsUnusual cause of sudden onset headache: spontaneous intracranial hypotension.
Spontaneous intracranial hypotension is a very distinctive but unusual cause of acute headache. The postural nature of the headache can be easily overlooked in the celerity to exclude subarachnoid haemorrhage. We describe the clinical and radiological features of a case that emphasizes some of the diagnostic difficulties. An approach to management and treatment for this condition is outlined.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2005
Self-reported antibiotic compliance: emergency department to general practitioner follow up.
General practitioner (GP) follow up is important in the management of patients who are discharged from an ED. ⋯ The majority of patients who were seen and discharged from the ED with an antibiotic prescription were able to nominate a GP and this was associated with improved follow-up compliance and antibiotic compliance. Improving follow-up compliance and thus the quality of patient care would involve identifying those patients who present to the ED who are unable to nominate a GP.