The American journal of emergency medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomized, controlled trial to evaluate topical anesthetic for 15 minutes before venipuncture in pediatrics.
The aim of the study was to assess the differences in reported pain from venipuncture comparing liposomal 4% lidocaine with placebo cream in a pediatric population. Other factors assessed were patient anxiety, difficulty of venipuncture, and history of venipuncture. ⋯ Topical liposomal 4% lidocaine cream in this case did not prove to be effective with a 15-minute dwell time under occlusion because there were no differences in pain between study groups.
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Review Case Reports
Empty toe: a unique type of closed degloving injury with dismal outcome.
Closed degloving injury is characterized by the development of soft tissue separated from underlying structure without outer skin disruption. “Empty toe” is one of the most unique types of closed degloving injuries. Only 4 such injuries have been reported previously. We demonstrate a case of this entity in a 20-year-old scooter passenger. ⋯ The fifth toe was eventually amputated. An empty toe implies that the injured site has experienced severe compressive and shearing force with potential neurovascular damage. Health care providers should be fully aware of the high risk of the probability of vascular insufficiency, and the viability would be associated with vascular capability.
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Multicenter Study
Gender differences in emergency stroke care and hospital outcome in acute ischemic stroke: a multicenter observational study.
We aimed to investigate the effect of gender difference on the accessibility to emergency care, hospital mortality and disability in acute stroke care. ⋯ The adjusted model for risk factors showed no significant difference on hospital mortality and disability between the 2 genders for stroke patients.
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Colonoscopy is a common procedure used for screening, diagnosis, and treatment of gastrointestinal disease. Life-threatening complications are uncommon (28/10 000 procedures) but include perforation, hemorrhage, diverticulitis, and postpolypectomy syndrome. Although previously reported, the association between appendicitis and colonoscopy is not widely known. ⋯ Although establishing causality is difficult, there is an association between colonoscopy and appendicitis, which may be underreported with literature-based estimates as high as 3.8 appendicitis cases per 10 000 procedures. Timely diagnosis of postcolonoscopy appendicitis may prove challenging given limited knowledge of this association between colonoscopy and appendicitis and similarity of presentation with other more well-known complications. This case report demonstrates that a recent history of colonoscopy should not preclude consideration of a traditionally broad differential diagnosis for abdominal pain, including appendicitis.
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Knowledge of current areas of activity in emergency medicine research may improve collaboration among investigators and may help inform decisions about future research priorities. Randomized, controlled trials are a key component of research activity and an essential tool for improving care. We investigated the characteristics of randomized trials recently published in emergency medicine journals. ⋯ Emergency medicine journals publish randomized trials addressing a wide range of clinical topics. Randomized trials focusing on geriatric patients are not commonly published in these journals.