Annals of emergency medicine
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Clinical Trial
The effects of consecutive night shifts on neuropsychological performance of interns in the emergency department: a pilot study.
We obtain preliminary information on the neuropsychological performance of house officers at the beginning and end of a shift while they worked consecutive night shifts in the emergency department. ⋯ Interns working nights demonstrated a significant reduction in visual memory capacity across the night shift. Research involving neuropsychological performance during night shifts in the ED is important. It might provide valuable insights into ways to improve our performance during night shifts.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Continuous 12-lead electrocardiographic monitoring in an emergency department chest pain unit: an assessment of potential clinical effect.
Continuous 12-lead serial ECG monitoring has been proposed to assist in the evaluation of patients with acute coronary syndrome and nondiagnostic ECG in an emergency department chest pain unit. However, the ability of serial ECG to detect acute coronary syndrome and its benefit in addition to a standard protocol has not been established. We evaluate the ability of continuous 12-lead ECG to detect acute coronary syndrome, assess the incremental benefit of the serial ECG in association with a set protocol in an ED chest pain unit, and evaluate whether serial ECG changes could be considered as prognostic factors. ⋯ Serial ECG is of limited value in the diagnostic evaluation of intermediate-risk patients managed in the chest pain unit with a standard protocol. However, when ST-segment changes are present, they indicate an increased likelihood for an adverse cardiac event.
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The objective of this study was to determine the effect of increasing head elevation and neck flexion on the quality of laryngeal view during laryngoscopy. ⋯ Increasing head elevation and laryngoscopy angle (neck flexion) significantly improves POGO scores during laryngoscopy on fresh human cadavers.