The American journal of emergency medicine
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Multicenter Study
Factors influencing secondary overtriage in trauma patients undergoing interhospital transfer: A 10-year multi-center study in Hong Kong.
With the development of regionalised trauma networks, interhospital transfer of trauma patients is an inevitable component of the trauma system. However, unnecessary transfer is a common phenomenon, and it is not without risk and cost. A better understanding of secondary overtriage would enable emergency physicians to make better decisions about trauma transfers and allow guidelines to be developed to support this decision making. This study aimed to describe the pattern of secondary overtriage in Hong Kong and identify its associated factors. ⋯ Interhospital transfer is an essential component of the trauma system. However, over one-fifth of the transfers were considered unnecessary in Hong Kong, and this could be considered to be an inefficient use of resources as well as cause inconvenience to patients and their families. We have identified related factors including blunt trauma, AIS <3 scores for head or neck, thorax, abdomen and extremities, and opportunities to establish and improve on transfer protocols. Further research should be aimed to safely reduce interhospital transfers in the future to improve the efficiency of the Hong Kong trauma system.
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Multicenter Study
Antiseizure medication practices in the adult traumatic brain injury patient population.
Antiseizure medication (ASM) use in traumatic brain injuries (TBI) reduces the risk of early post-traumatic seizure (PTS). Agent selection and dosing strategies remain inconsistent among trauma centers in the United States. ⋯ This multicenter, survey study, identified variances in practice for PTS prophylaxis for brain injured patients throughout the U.S. Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of trauma centers do not conform to the Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines and utilize LEV as their agent of choice. Further studies should evaluate ideal patient selection for PTS prophylaxis, optimal agent, and dosing schemes within this cohort.
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Multicenter Study
Association between multiple intubation attempts and complications during emergency department airway management: A national emergency airway registry study.
Peri-intubation complications are important sequelae of airway management in the emergency department (ED). Our objective was to quantify the increased risk of complications with multiple attempts at emergency airway intubation in the ED. ⋯ We found an independent association between the number of intubation attempts among ED patients undergoing emergency airway intubation and the risk of complications.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Validation and comparison of triage-based screening strategies for sepsis.
This study sought to externally validate and compare proposed methods for stratifying sepsis risk at emergency department (ED) triage. ⋯ The Predict Sepsis and Borelli scores exhibited improved performance including increased specificity and positive predictive values for sepsis identification at ED triage compared to CTAS and SIRS criteria.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Comparison of initial adenosine dose conversion rate for supraventricular tachycardia in the emergency department.
To evaluate the rate of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) termination between 6 mg and 12 mg initial adenosine doses. ⋯ A higher rate of SVT termination was observed with an initial adenosine dose of 12 mg in the ED in comparison to the guideline recommended dose of 6 mg. There were no significant differences in adverse effects observed.