The American journal of emergency medicine
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Development of a 2-step algorithm to identify emergency department patients for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis.
Expanded access to HIV PrEP is a central pillar of the "Ending the HIV Epidemic" initiative. Identification of PrEP eligible individuals in EDs remains understudied. Our goal was to estimate the accuracy of the Denver HIV Risk Score (DHRS), a quantitative HIV risk tool, for determining PrEP eligibility, and to incorporate it into a novel screening algorithm to optimize sensitivity and specificity. ⋯ Among a heterogeneous ED sample, a substantial proportion was identified as PrEP eligible, and a 2-step algorithm had high sensitivity and specificity for identifying PrEP-eligible patients.
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Multicenter Study
External validation of the POP score for predicting obstetric and gynecological diseases in the emergency department.
The POP score was developed as an easy screening tool for predicting obstetrics and gynecological (OBGYN) diseases in the emergency department (ED), and consists of three predictors, each representing one point: past history of OBGYN diseases, no fever or digestive symptoms, and peritoneal irritation signs). However, its external validity has not yet been evaluated. We aimed to perform the external validation of the POP score. ⋯ Using ED data of three tertiary care hospitals, we externally validated the POP score for prediction of OBGYN diseases in the ED. The POP score likely has clinical value for screening OBGYN diseases in young adult women with abdominal pain in the ED.
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Administering large volumes of crystalloids to trauma patients has been shown to exacerbate metabolic complications of hemorrhage including dilutional coagulopathy and worsening acidosis The aim of this study was to evaluate crystalloid administration volumes in trauma patients after replacing 1 L IV containers with 500 mL IV containers in the emergency department trauma resuscitation bay. ⋯ Due to reduced mortality, expanding literature and guidelines clearly support minimizing IV crystalloid resuscitation. Institutions must now work to minimize use of IV crystalloids to hemorrhaging trauma patients and a simple solution of using smaller IV fluid bags was shown to improve adherence to this practice.
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Observational Study
Poor guideline adherence in a real-world evaluation of hypertensive emergency management.
The American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association define hypertensive emergency (HTN-E) as a systolic blood pressure greater than 180 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure greater than 120 mmHg with evidence of end-organ damage (EOD). Based on expert opinion, current guidelines recommend antihypertensive therapy to reduce blood pressure (BP) at specific hourly rates to reduce progression of EOD, outlined by four criteria. Our goal was to describe compliance with guideline recommendations for early management of HTN-E and to analyze safety outcomes related to pharmacologic intervention. ⋯ Current practice is poorly compliant with guideline criteria and there are risks associated with recommended treatments. Our results favor relaxing the expert opinion-based recommendations.
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Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) has gained increasing as a promising but resource-intensive intervention for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). There is little data to quantify the impact of this intervention and the patients likely to benefit from its use. We conducted a meta-analysis of the literature to assess the survival benefit associated with ECPR for OHCA. ⋯ Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a promising but resource-intensive intervention that may increase rates of survival to hospital discharge among patients who experience OHCA.