Annals of emergency medicine
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Multicenter Study
Influenza testing and antiviral prescribing practices among emergency department clinicians in 9 states during the 2006 to 2007 influenza season.
Influenza causes significant widespread illness each year. Emergency department (ED) clinicians are often first-line providers to evaluate and make treatment decisions for patients presenting with influenza. We sought to better understand ED clinician testing and treatment practices in the Emerging Infections Program Network, a federal, state, and academic collaboration that conducts active surveillance for influenza-associated hospitalizations. ⋯ There is much heterogeneity in clinician-initiated influenza testing and treatment practices. Additional exploration of the role of hospital testing and treatment policies, clinicians' perception of influenza disease, and methods for educating clinicians about new recommendations is needed to better understand ED clinician testing and treatment decisions, especially in an environment of rapidly changing influenza clinical guidelines. Until influenza testing and treatment guidelines are better promulgated, clinicians may continue to test and treat influenza with inconsistency.
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Practice Guideline
Clinical policy: Critical issues in the evaluation and management of emergency department patients with suspected appendicitis.
This clinical policy from the American College of Emergency Physicians is an update of a 2000 clinical policy on the evaluation and management of patients presenting with nontraumatic acute abdominal pain.1 A writing subcommittee reviewed the literature to derive evidence-based recommendations to help clinicians answer the following critical questions: (1)Can clinical findings be used to guide decision making in the risk stratification of patients with possible appendicitis? (2) In adult patients with suspected acute appendicitis who are undergoing a computed tomography scan, what is the role of contrast? (3) In children with suspected acute appendicitis who undergo diagnostic imaging, what are the roles of computed tomography and ultrasound in diagnosing acute appendicitis?Evidence was graded and recommendations were given based on the strength of the available data in the medical literature.
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We describe the implementation of a mobile pediatric emergency response team for mildly ill children with influenza-like illnesses during the H1N1 swine influenza outbreak. ⋯ The mobile pediatric emergency response team and screening and triage algorithms were able to safely and effectively identify a group of low-acuity patients who could be rapidly evaluated and discharged, alleviating ED volume and potentially preventing transmission of H1N1 influenza.