The American journal of emergency medicine
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We aimed to determine the incidence of esophageal strictures in corrosive ingestions and potential predictors of severe injury. ⋯ All inpatient deaths and severe complications were apparent within hours of ingestion, and occurred with highly corrosive substances. One delayed stricture occurred, not predicted by inpatient endoscopy.
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The purpose of this study is to determine the economic value of the Utah Poison Control Center (UPCC) by examining its contribution to the reduction of unnecessary emergency department (ED) visits and associated charges across multiple years. ⋯ Compared to the cost of operation, the service UPCC provides demonstrates economic value by reducing ED visits and associated charges. As the majority of patients have private insurance, the largest benefit falls to private payers.
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To investigate the difference in pentraxin 3 (PTX 3) levels between patients with pulmonary contusion and healthy volunteers. ⋯ PTX 3 levels in pulmonary contusion increased significantly compared to the healthy control group. If supported by wider series, PTX 3 may be expected to be capable of use as a marker in pulmonary contusion.
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To calculate the emergency department (ED)-level Escherichia coli percentage of isolates susceptible to commonly used antibiotics and to determine the risk factors associated with inadequate empiric antibiotic therapy among patients treated for urinary tract infections (UTIs) in our ED. ⋯ Development of ED-level antimicrobial susceptibility data and consideration of patients' clinical characteristics can help better guide selection of empiric antibiotic therapy for the treatment of UTIs.
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Observational Study
Adverse event and error of unexpected life-threatening events within 24h of emergency department admission.
Errors and adverse events associated with unexpected life-threatening events including unplanned transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU) and unexpected death after emergency department (ED) hospitalization are not well characterized. We performed this study to investigate the role of unexpected life-threatening events as a trigger to capture errors and adverse events for ED patient safety. ⋯ Unexpected life-threatening events within 24h of admission from the ED could be a useful trigger tool to identify preventable adverse events with serious physical injury in ED.