The American journal of emergency medicine
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HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzyme levels, low platelet counts)-syndrome is a rare but dramatic pregnancy-related illness. The difficult part of this syndrome is the lack of standardised diagnostic criterias and tests to be used to predict it. The aim of this study is determining the role of APRI score in the diagnosis of HELLP syndrome. ⋯ We concluded that the APRI score was robustly predicted HELLP syndrome than AST alone in this study. Further studies are needed to support our data with prospective, multicentre, larger patient groups.
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Review Meta Analysis
Ketamine for emergency sedation of agitated patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Prior studies suggest that ketamine is effective for acute agitation in the emergency department (ED) and prehospital settings. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to evaluate the rate of sedation and need for airway management in patients given ketamine for management of acute agitation. Methods: We performed a systematic review of publications describing the use of ketamine to control agitation in the ED and prehospital settings. ⋯ The estimate of the proportion of subjects that achieved sedation was 85% (95% CI = 0.71-0.93). After synthesizing data from the four studies that compared ketamine to controls, ketamine was associated with increased rates of sedation (RR, 1.95 [CI, 0.47-8.1]) and increased need for intubation (RR, 2.44 [CI, 0.75-7.91]). The differences were not significant by random effects model.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Comparing intranasal ketamine with intravenous fentanyl in reducing pain in patients with renal colic: A double-blind randomized clinical trial.
Kidney stones are a fairly common problem that manifests itself as symptoms of acute abdominal and flank pains in patients presenting to emergency departments. ⋯ Ketamine was found to be less effective than fentanyl in controlling renal colic-induced pain, and to be associated with a higher prevalence of side-effects; nevertheless, ketamine can be effective in controlling this pain in conjunction with other medications.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Kinesiotaping for isolated rib fractures in emergency department.
Rib fractures, which are among the most common injuries in blunt thoracic trauma, are usually encountered in Emergency Departments. Kinesiotape (KT) is a drug-free elastic therapeutic tape used for treating various musculoskeletal problems such as injury, dysfunction and pain. We aimed to investigate whether kinesotaping should be used safely and effectively in rib fractures in emergency setting. ⋯ This study investigated the use of kinesiotaping in emergency departments. When compared to NSAID therapy alone, combined kinesiotaping and NSAID therapy appears to be more effective in terms of pain reduction in rib fractures.