The American journal of emergency medicine
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Often, patients are brought in to the emergency department after ingesting large amounts of cocaine in an attempt to conceal it. This act is known as body stuffing. The observation period required to recognize potential toxic adverse effects in these patients is not well described in the literature. ⋯ One hundred six patients met final inclusion criteria as adult cocaine stuffers. No patients developed life-threatening symptoms, and no patients died during observation. In our medical setting, stuffers could be discharged after a 6-hour observation period if there was either complete resolution or absence of clinical symptoms.
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Taxine, a yew tree toxin, is highly cardiotoxic. We report the case of a patient who developed severe cardiac failure and ventricular fibrillation after consuming yew leaves and who made a full recovery after extracorporeal life support. Yew poisoning can be added to the list of potential indications of extracorporeal life support for refractory toxic cardiogenic shock.
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The objective of this study was to compare an expedited 24-hour management pathway against traditional inpatient ward management of patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) and recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax (RSP). ⋯ Small to moderate PSPs can be safely and efficiently managed within 24 hours in an EDOU.
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The study aimed to determine the prevalence of chronic illness and chronic pain in emergency department (ED) patients across demographic backgrounds. ⋯ Patient housing situation, family income, and perceived access to primary care medical facilities were associated with higher self-reported rates of chronic illness and chronic pain.
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We examined the use of point-of-care (POC) testing of cardiac biomarkers against standard core laboratory testing to determine the time-savings and estimate a cost-benefit ratio at our institution. ⋯ Our data suggest that the use of an accelerated cardiac POC pathway could have dramatically impacted the care provided to a large percentage of our patients at a minimal cost per direct patient care hour saved.