The American journal of emergency medicine
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Observational Study
Optic nerve sheath diameter measurement: a means of detecting raised intracranial pressure in adult traumatic and non-traumatic neurosurgical patients.
Bedside ultrasound measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) is emerging as a non-invasive technique to evaluate and predict raised intracranial pressure (ICP). It has been shown in previous literature that ONSD measurement has good correlation with surrogate findings of raised ICP such as clinical and radiological findings suggestive of raised ICP. ⋯ ONSD value of 5.205 is sensitive and specific in detecting raised ICP. Bedside ultrasound measurement of ONSD is readily learned, and is reproducible and reliable in predicting raised ICP. This non-invasive technique can be a useful adjunct to the current invasive intracranial catheter monitoring, and has wide potential clinical applications in district hospitals, emergency departments and intensive care units.
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The HEART score has been validated as a predictor of major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) in emergency department patients complaining of chest pain. Our objective was to determine the extent of physician variation in the HEART score of admitted patients stratified by years of experience. ⋯ More experienced providers admitted higher-risk patients and were more likely to admit patients who would experience a MACE. More research is needed to determine whether adding the HEART score for clinical decision making can be used prospectively to increase sensitivity for admitting patients at high risk for MACE and to decrease admissions for chest pain in lower-risk patients by less experienced providers.
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Letter Observational Study
Pain scores for venipuncture among ED patients.