The American journal of emergency medicine
-
Emergency Department (ED) service evaluations are typically based on surveys of discharged patients. Physicians/administrators benefit from data that quantifies system-based factors that adversely impact the experience of those who represent the survey cohort. ⋯ Prolonged ED stays for admitted patients were associated with prolonged throughput times for patients discharged home from the ED.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
A comparison of direct laryngoscopic views in different head and neck positions in edentulous patients.
Proper head and neck positioning is an important factor for successful direct laryngoscopy, and the optimum position in edentulous patients is unclear. We compared direct laryngoscopic views in simple head extension, sniffing, and elevated sniffing positions in edentulous patients. ⋯ The sniffing and elevated sniffing positions provide better laryngeal views during direct laryngoscopy compared to simple head extension in edentulous patients.
-
There is growing evidence to suggest the use of urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) test to help with the diagnosis of appendicitis. The aim of our study was to establish whether urinary 5-HIAA could be used as an effective diagnostic test for acute appendicitis. ⋯ Urinary 5-HIAA is not an ideal test for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis.
-
Monitoring of patient's intravascular volume status without invasive measures remains challenging and unreliable. Our objective was to determine if corrected flow time (FTc) measurement could detect preload reduction with administration of nitroglycerin (NTG) as a surrogate for volume loss. ⋯ Corrected flow time was able to detect a significant difference in preload reduction with 0.3 mg of NTG. The FTc may be an early reliable noninvasive measure to detect changes in intravascular volume status.