The American journal of emergency medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Prophylactic metoclopramide is unnecessary with intravenous analgesia in the ED.
Antiemetics are commonly prescribed as prophylaxis for nausea and vomiting when opiate analgesics are prescribed in the emergency department. This prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial assessed the incidence of nausea and vomiting after morphine and pethidine (meperidine) analgesia, and the effect of metoclopramide on this incidence. Intravenous morphine or pethidine analgesia was administered with metoclopramide or placebo to 122 opiate-naïve patients with acute severe pain. ⋯ None of these differences reached statistical significance. The low incidence of nausea and vomiting after opiate analgesia, and higher incidence of side effects with metoclopramide, are consistent with controlled data in the literature. Prophylactic metoclopramide should not be used routinely in ED patients receiving parenteral morphine or pethidine analgesia.
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Clinical trials should use outcomes that are important to patients. We sought to determine the aspects of laceration management that are most important to patients. A prospective observational survey was conducted at one suburban and one urban university ED during November to December 1998 that included ED patients and visitors with and without current or prior lacerations. ⋯ Patients prioritize the medical outcomes of laceration repair (function, avoiding infection, cosmesis, pain) more than cost, compassion, ED length of stay and inconvenience (missed work/school). Cosmetic outcome is particularly important to patients with facial lacerations. This information should be useful when designing outcome studies of laceration management.
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There are gender differences in emergency medical services (EMS) transports and management based on diagnosis. Data were extracted from the EMS State Ambulance Transport database. This database exists because of a legal requirement that all EMS transports generated by 911 calls and all interhospital transports be reported to the State EMS Bureau. ⋯ There are numerous disease-specific gender differences in the demographics of illness and injury transported by EMS. The use of various medications and procedures may also be related to gender. Understanding these differences may help in preparing EMS professionals for patient management.
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The objective of this study was to analyze ambulance usage by highest acuity patients as compared with all patients in a suburban pediatric hospital ED. A 1-year retrospective records analysis was conducted of all highest acuity patients (those patients triaged as emergent or critical or admitted to the intensive care unit). A total of 245 patients made 270 high-acuity visits to the ED in 1995. ⋯ There was no significant difference in ambulance usage between insurance groups in the high-acuity patients. Only high-acuity patients with neurologic symptoms (primarily seizures) had a greater relative use of EMS transportation, with 39% of these patients arriving via ambulance (odds ratio 6.6, 95% confidence interval 2.6,16.6). High-acuity patients account for the minority of total ambulance usage in our ED.
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A prospective observational study was performed in 706 chest pain patients who underwent our chest pain evaluation protocol which consists of continuous 12-lead ST-segment monitoring with automated serial ECG (SECG) and a 2-hour delta (delta) CK-MB level determination before ED physician making final disposition decision to determine the incremental value of our 2-hour protocol for identifying myocardial infarction (MI) as compared with the initial ECG in combination with a baseline CK-MB. The initial ECG was obtained on presentation and considered positive if it revealed injury or ischemia. SECGs were obtained at least every 10 minutes and considered positive if it revealed new injury or ischemia. ⋯ MI was defined as acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or recent AMI (ie, AMI patients presenting on falling curve of CK-MB). The incremental value of the 2 hour protocol (ie, SECG in conjunction with deltaCK-MB) was more sensitive for identification of MI than the baseline protocol (ie, initial ECG in conjunction with the baseline CK-MB) (94.0% versus 55.4%; P < .0001) and reliably both identified (+LR = 14.6) and excluded MI (-LR = 0.06). SECG monitoring in conjunction with the 2 hour deltaCK-MB allows for early identification and exclusion of MI, and can assist the ED physician in making appropriate treatment and disposition decisions.