Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Effect of MicroEEG on Clinical Management and Outcomes of Emergency Department Patients With Altered Mental Status: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Altered mental status (AMS) is a common presentation in the emergency department (ED). A previous study revealed 78% electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities, including nonconvulsive seizure (NCS; 5%), in ED patients with AMS. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of EEG on clinical management and outcomes of ED patients with AMS. ⋯ An EEG can be obtained in the ED with minimal resources and can affect clinical management of AMS patients.
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Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is the most prevalent hospital-acquired infection, yet little is known about emergency department (ED) use of urinary catheters. The objective was to describe use of urinary catheters in U.S. EDs and determine the proportion that was potentially avoidable. ⋯ Reducing use of urinary catheters outside of CDC guideline criteria in ED patients is a promising strategy to reduce CAUTIs.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Evidence-based narratives to improve recall of opioid prescribing guidelines: a randomized experiment.
Physicians adopt evidence-based guidelines with variable consistency. Narratives, or stories, offer a novel dissemination strategy for clinical recommendations. The study objective was to compare whether evidence-based narrative versus traditional summary improved recall of opioid prescribing guidelines from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). ⋯ Physicians exposed to a narrative about opioid guidelines were more likely to recall guideline content at 1 hour than those exposed to a summary of the guidelines. Future studies should examine whether the incorporation of narratives in dissemination campaigns improves guideline adoption and changes clinical practice
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Randomized Clinical Trial of Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen Versus Codeine/Acetaminophen in the Treatment of Acute Extremity Pain After Emergency Department Discharge.
The objective was to test the hypothesis that hydrocodone/acetaminophen (Vicodin [5/500]) provides more efficacious analgesia than codeine/acetaminophen (Tylenol #3 [30/300]) in patients discharged from the emergency department (ED). Both are currently Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Schedule III narcotics. ⋯ Both medications decreased NRS pain scores by approximately 50%. However, the oral hydrocodone/acetaminophen failed to provide clinically or statistically superior pain relief compared to oral codeine/acetaminophen when prescribed to patients discharged from the ED with acute extremity pain. Similarly, there were no clinically or statistically important differences in side-effect profiles or patient satisfaction. If the DEA reclassifies hydrocodone as a Schedule II narcotic, as recently recommended by its advisory board, our data suggest that the codeine/acetaminophen may be a clinically reasonable Schedule III substitute for hydrocodone/acetaminophen at ED discharge. These findings should be regarded as tentative and require independent validation in similar and other acute pain models.