Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Ibuprofen provides analgesia equivalent to acetaminophen-codeine in the treatment of acute pain in children with extremity injuries: a randomized clinical trial.
This study compared the analgesic effectiveness of acetaminophen-codeine with that of ibuprofen for children with acute traumatic extremity pain, with the hypothesis that the two medications would demonstrate equivalent reduction in pain scores in an emergency department (ED) setting. ⋯ This study found similar performance of acetaminophen-codeine and ibuprofen in analgesic effectiveness among ED patients aged 5-17 years with acute traumatic extremity pain. Both drugs provided measurable analgesia. Patients tolerated them well, with few treatment failures and minimal adverse effects.
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Comparative Study Controlled Clinical Trial
Design and implementation of a controlled clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of routine opt-out rapid human immunodeficiency virus screening in the emergency department.
In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released revised recommendations for performing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing in health care settings, including implementing routine rapid HIV screening, the use of an integrated opt-out consent, and limited prevention counseling. Emergency departments (EDs) have been a primary focus of these efforts. These revised CDC recommendations were primarily based on feasibility studies and have not been evaluated through the application of rigorous research methods. ⋯ It also provides details regarding the integration of the principal clinical trial and its nested observational studies. Such ED-based trials are rare, but serve to provide valid comparisons between testing approaches. Investigators should consider similar methodology when performing future ED-based health services research.
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Incidents of sudden death following TASER exposure are poorly studied, and substantive links between TASER exposure and sudden death are minimal. The authors studied the effects of a single TASER exposure on markers of physiologic stress in humans. ⋯ A 5-second exposure of a TASER following vigorous exercise to healthy law enforcement personnel does not result in clinically significant changes in ventilatory or blood parameters of physiologic stress.
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The objective was to describe the perspective of research personnel on issues of informed consent in a time-sensitive clinical study under emergency circumstances. ⋯ From the perspectives of research staff and investigators enrolling patients in a time-sensitive emergency department study, the authors identified several areas of concern that should be addressed when planning future emergency studies.