Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Emergency Department triage of traumatic head injury using brain electrical activity biomarkers: a multisite prospective observational validation trial.
A brain electrical activity biomarker for identifying traumatic brain injury (TBI) in emergency department (ED) patients presenting with high Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) after sustaining a head injury has shown promise for objective, rapid triage. The main objective of this study was to prospectively evaluate the efficacy of an automated classification algorithm to determine the likelihood of being computed tomography (CT) positive, in high-functioning TBI patients in the acute state. ⋯ Using an EEG-based biomarker high accuracy of predicting the likelihood of being CT+ was obtained, with high NPV and sensitivity to any traumatic bleeding and to hematomas. Specificity was significantly higher than standard CT decision rules. The short time to acquire results and the ease of use in the ED environment suggests that EEG-based classifier algorithms have potential to impact triage and clinical management of head-injured patients.
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The objective was to determine the impact of a soiled airway on firstpass success when using the GlideScope video laryngoscope or the direct laryngoscope for intubation in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Soiling of the airway was associated with a reduced firstpass success during emergency intubation, and this reduction occurred to a similar degree whether using either the GlideScope or the direct laryngoscope.