The American journal of emergency medicine
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The HEART Pathway is a diagnostic protocol designed to identify low-risk patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain that are safe for early discharge. This protocol has been shown to significantly decrease health care resource utilization compared with usual care. However, the impact of the HEART Pathway on the cost of care has yet to be reported. ⋯ Using the HEART Pathway as a decision aid for patients with undifferentiated chest pain resulted in significant cost savings.
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Time has shown to be a relevant factor in the prognosis for a multitude of clinical conditions. The current analysis aimed to establish whether delayed admission to specialized care is a risk factor for increased mortality in case of high-grade aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. ⋯ Delayed admission to specialized care is associated with a higher mortality rate in patients with high-grade aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Accompanying non-neurosurgical, mainly cardiac complications might be a significant factor leading to delayed admission. The emergency physician should be aware that cardiovascular abnormalities are a relevant complication and sometimes the first identified clinical feature of high-grade subarachnoid hemorrhage.
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Observational Study
Emergency physician performed tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion in the evaluation of suspected pulmonary embolism.
The primary objectives were to describe the diagnostic characteristics tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) for pulmonary embolism (PE) and to optimize the measurement cutoff of TAPSE for the diagnosis of PE. Secondary objectives included assessment of interrater reliability and the quantitative visual estimation of TAPSE. ⋯ Emergency physicians with training in echocardiography can reliably measure TAPSE and are able to accurately visually estimate TAPSE as either normal or abnormal. When using an abnormal cutoff of less than 2.0 cm, TAPSE has moderate diagnostic value in patients with suspected PE. On post hoc analysis, TAPSE and FOCUS appear to be highly sensitive for PE in patients with tachycardia or hypotension.
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The purpose of this study was to compare health care resource utilization among patients who were given intravenous nitroglycerin for acute heart failure (AHF) in the emergency department (ED) by intermittent bolus, continuous infusion, or a combination of both. ⋯ In ED patients with AHF, intravenous nitroglycerin by intermittent bolus was associated with a lower ICU admission rate and a shorter hospital LOS compared with continuous infusion.
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The purpose of this study is to identify an accurate and reliable computed tomographic (CT) measurement that can identify those patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with orbital floor fracture (BOF) who require surgical repair to prevent ensuing visually debilitating diplopia and/or enophthalmos. ⋯ Initial maxillofacial CT studies obtained in the ED for those with BOF is used to predict which patients may need urgent surgical repair. In this report, we introduce a new CT measurement, called CCD. Cranial-caudal discrepancy greater than 0.8 cm is predictive of the development of diplopia and/or enophthalmos that will require surgical correction. Orbital floor fracture greater than 50% and IMS involvement were much less accurate in making similar predictions. Cranial-caudal discrepancy should be used by the ED physicians to identify those patients who should be referred sooner than later to an oculoplastic surgeon for surgical evaluation and intervention. Correct and timely triaging can prevent the complications of delayed correction including scarring, difficult surgical repair, and/or poor functional and aesthetic outcomes.