The American journal of emergency medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomized controlled trial of adding intravenous corticosteroids to H1 antihistamines in patients with acute urticaria.
Acute urticaria is a common dermatological condition in emergency departments (EDs). The main therapy involves controlling pruritus with antihistamines. Although guidelines have promoted the use of corticosteroids in addition to H1 antihistamines, well-designed clinical trials evaluating this approach are scarce. ⋯ The present study did not find evidence that adding IV dexamethasone improves the treatment of severe pruritus from uncomplicated acute urticaria. Oral corticosteroid therapy may be associated with persistent urticaria activity. Due to the lack of clinical benefits and the potential for side effects, using corticosteroids as an adjunctive treatment is discouraged.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Frequency of safety net errors in the emergency department: Effect of patient handoffs.
The objective of this study was to determine physician awareness of abnormal vital signs and key clinical interventions (oxygen provision, intravenous access) in the emergency department, and to measure the effect of patient handoffs on this awareness. ⋯ Emergency physicians make frequent errors regarding awareness of their patients' vital signs, oxygen and vascular status and patient handoffs are associated with an increased frequency of such errors.
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We determine how aggregate costs have changed for commonly used emergency department (ED) medications, and assess drivers of cost increases. ⋯ Over the course of the study period, the aggregate costs of the most common medications administered in the ED increased by 28% while the costs of medications prescribed at discharge increased 125%.
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Observational Study
Association between laboratory parameters and CT severity in patients infected with Covid-19: A retrospective, observational study.
Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 have presented to emergency departments (EDs) worldwide with a wide range of symptoms. In this study we reported the clinical, laboratory and radiological features of the cases diagnosed with COVID-19. ⋯ In our study, serum ferritin and D-dimer levels were observed to be high in the CT-positive group and have moderate positive correlation with CT severity. We thus argue that D-dimer and ferritin levels measured at the time of admission to the ED can be taken into consideration to predict radiological severity.