Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Adherence to an Accelerated Diagnostic Protocol for Chest Pain: Secondary Analysis of the HEART Pathway Randomized Trial.
Accelerated diagnostic protocols (ADPs), such as the HEART Pathway, are gaining popularity in emergency departments (EDs) as tools used to risk stratify patients with acute chest pain. However, provider nonadherence may threaten the safety and effectiveness of ADPs. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and impact of ADP nonadherence. ⋯ Real-time use of the HEART Pathway resulted in a nonadherence rate of 20%, mostly due to overtesting. None of these patients had MACE within 30 days. Nonadherence decreased the discharge rate, attenuating the HEART Pathway's impact on health care use.
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Observational Study
Intravenous Ondansetron and the QT Interval in Adult Emergency Department Patients: An Observational Study.
Ondansetron is known to cause QT interval prolongation, but this effect and clinical significance has not been prospectively studied in adult emergency department (ED) patients. The primary objective was to determine the mean maximal corrected QT interval (QTc) prolongation after intravenous (IV) administration of 4 mg of ondansetron. The secondary objective was to report any serious adverse cardiac electrical events. ⋯ While QTc prolongation does occur in adult ED patients receiving IV ondansetron, the clinical impact is questionable.
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The objective of this study was to evaluate operational policies that may improve the proportion of eligible stroke patients within a population who would receive intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) and minimize time to treatment in eligible patients. ⋯ Given the potential societal benefits, continued efforts to deploy telemedicine appear warranted. Aligning the incentives between those who would have to fund the up-front technology investments and those who will benefit over time from reduced ongoing health care expenses will be necessary to fully realize the benefits of telemedicine for stroke care.
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The Broselow tape is a length-based tool used for the rapid estimation of pediatric weight and was developed to reduce dosage-related errors during emergencies. This study seeks to assess the accuracy of the Broselow tape and age-based formulas in predicting weights of South Sudanese children of varying nutritional status. ⋯ The Broselow tape and age-based formulas selected for comparison were all markedly inaccurate in both the nonmalnourished and the malnourished populations studied, worsening with increasing malnourishment. Additional studies should explore appropriate methods of weight and dosage estimation for populations of low- and low-to-middle-income countries and regions with a high prevalence of malnutrition.