The American journal of emergency medicine
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Review Meta Analysis
Vapocoolant spray versus placebo spray/no treatment for reducing pain from intravenous cannulation: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Intravenous cannulation is a routine procedure in hospitalized patients, and pain can occur during the cannulation process. Vapocoolant spray is an advantageous analgesic alternative for intravenous cannula insertion. ⋯ This meta-analysis suggests that vapocoolant spray significantly decreased pain during intravenous cannulation when compared with placebo spray or no treatment in both adults and children. We recommend the use of vapocoolant spray during intravenous cannulation to decrease pain. Future research may help to unify pain measurement standards. Patients' anxiety due to spray and technical ease of the attempt should be explored in future research.
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Volume resuscitation is of utmost importance in the treatment of shock. It is imperative that this resuscitation be guided using a reliable method of ascertaining volume status to avoid the ill-effects of hypovolemia while also avoiding those of over-resuscitation. There are numerous tools and methods available in this era to aid the bedside physician in guiding volume resuscitation, many of which will be described in this review of literature. ⋯ Dynamic measurements are favored over static measurements, however the conditions to be met for most dynamic measurements to be valid leave these methods to be used reliably in a very discrete critically-ill population. This issue is overcome by utilizing maneuvers that have been developed to assess fluid responsiveness that liberalize the conditions required for most dynamic measurements, such as passive leg raising, end expiratory occlusion, and mini-fluid boluses. This review of literature highlights the differences between static and dynamic measurements of fluid responsiveness, and proposes a guide to choosing the most reliable methods of ascertaining volume responsiveness individualized to each patient.
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Headaches and visual complaints are common conditions encountered in the emergency department. While a patient's age, risk factors, and comorbidities often aid in risk stratification and guide emergency department evaluation, atypical presentations of serious disease may still occur in young otherwise healthy patients CASE: In this vignette we discuss a case of ocular (choroidal) melanoma in a 21 year-old female patient who presented with recurrent photopsia and headaches. ⋯ Ocular melanoma is the most common non-skin melanoma and should be considered by the emergency physician for patients with visual deficits. Likely presentations and risk factors for ocular melanoma will be discussed as well as emergency department and specialty management.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Simulated internal jugular vein cannulation using a needle-guiding device.
Using a two-dimensional ultrasound-guided approach does not guarantee success during the first attempt at internal jugular vein cannulation. Our randomized, parallel simulation study examined whether a new disposable device could improve the success rate of the first attempt at ultrasound-guided internal jugular vein cannulation of a simulated internal jugular vein. ⋯ The new disposable device was effective for successful first attempts at needle insertion during ultrasound-guided internal jugular vein cannulation. Future clinical trials are needed to assess the effectiveness of this device.