The American journal of emergency medicine
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Case Reports
Adherence to PECARN criteria in children transferred to a pediatric trauma center: An opportunity for improvement?
The Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) criteria identify children at low risk of clinically important traumatic brain injury (ciTBI) in whom CT head (CTH) is unnecessary. We assessed compliance with PECARN at outside hospitals (OSH) among children transferred to our pediatric trauma center. ⋯ Compliance with PECARN was low among referring facilities with nearly 75% of CTHs being potentially avoidable with proper adherence and parental counseling. Deferring imaging until after transfer appears safe as no child underwent emergent intervention upon arrival. Early transfer and improved compliance with PECARN may reduce the number of CTHs performed.
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The outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been of concern to health care workers (HCW's) in the emergency department (ED) due to potential exposure and transmission. This case report describes a man who was referred to the ED for abdominal and testicular pain who was subsequently found to test positive for COVID-19. Due to the lack of respiratory symptoms, proper protective equipment (PPE) was not donned, and it led to several patients and health care workers being exposed. Given recent new descriptions of patients who present atypically, full PPE for all patients may be considered as community spread increases.
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Observational Study
Added value of inflammatory markers to vital signs to predict mortality in patients suspected of severe infection.
To evaluate the added value of inflammatory markers to vital signs to predict mortality in patients suspected of severe infection. ⋯ The inflammatory markers except C-reactive protein showed added predictive value to vital signs. Future studies should focus on developing and validating prediction models for use in individualized predictions including both vital signs and the significant markers.
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Diagnostic value of urinalysis specimens contaminated with squamous epithelial cells (SEC) from the genital surfaces is assumed to be limited compared to clean-catch samples. However, no studies have quantified the change in predictive value in the presence of SECs for individual urinalysis markers. ⋯ Analysis of AUC for individual urinalysis markers showed reduced diagnostic accuracy in the presence of SECs. SEC presence also reflected much higher rates of contaminated cultures. These results support the reduced reliance on contaminated UA specimens for ruling in UTI in ED patients.
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Case Reports
The rule of two's didn't work: a case of Meckel's diverticulum with hemorrhagic shock in an adolescent.
Meckel's diverticulum classically follows the rule of two's; presenting before the age of two years, found 2 ft. from the ileocecal valve, approximately 2 in. in length, and present in roughly 2% of the population. To our knowledge, there are few cases detailing emergent medicine management of hemorrhagic shock in patients with acute blood loss from a Meckel's diverticulum. ⋯ This case report details the importance of prompt recognition and appropriate volume resuscitation in a pediatric patient suffering from hemorrhagic shock. Emergency medicine physicians should maintain an index of suspicion for Meckel's diverticulum in any pediatric patient presenting with undifferentiated gastrointestinal hemorrhage.