Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Comparative Study
Predictors of success in emergency medicine ultrasound education.
To compare emergency medicine resident performance on an ultrasound-oriented, American Board of Emergency Medicine-styled written examination with the following variables in resident education: number of ultrasound scans performed, presence of a formal, structured ultrasound rotation, presence of a mandatory ultrasound rotation, number of hours of didactic ultrasound education, and percentage of ultrasound education taught by emergency physicians. ⋯ Improved resident performance on an ultrasound written examination was associated with increasing resident year, number of scans performed, and the presence of an ultrasound rotation at the residency program. Increasing the number of didactic hours spent on ultrasound each year beyond 15 hours showed no improvement in resident performance.
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It is unclear whether ketamine induces subclinical respiratory depression when administered in dissociative doses intravenously (IV). The authors report a pilot study of capnography in emergency department (ED) pediatric patients receiving ketamine alone for procedural sedation, and describe serial measures of ventilatory response [end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO(2)), respiratory rate, pulse oximetry]. ⋯ No hypoventilation was observed in 20 ED pediatric patients receiving ketamine 1.5 mg/kg administered IV over 1 minute. The authors found no evidence of respiratory depressant properties for this dissociative agent.
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Review
Tissue adhesives for traumatic lacerations: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
To summarize the best available evidence for the effect of tissue adhesives (TAs) in managing traumatic lacerations in children and adults. ⋯ TAs are an acceptable alternative to SWC for simple traumatic lacerations. No difference in cosmesis was found between TAs and SWC, or between different TAs. Tissue adhesives offer the benefits of decreased procedure time and less pain, compared with SWC. A small increased rate of dehiscence with TAs must be considered when choosing the closure method (NNH = 25).
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To determine the incidence of traumatic lumbar puncture (LP). ⋯ The incidence of traumatic lumbar puncture is approximately 15% using a cutoff of 400 RBCs and 10% using a cutoff of 1000 RBCs. In this study, the rate of traumatic lumbar puncture was significantly less (with a cutoff of 400 RBCs) and the rate of champagne tap was significantly greater for LPs done in the ED compared with the rest of the hospital.
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Comparative Study
Can the bispectral index monitor quantify altered level of consciousness in emergency department patients?
A daily part of emergency medicine practice includes assessing patients with altered levels of consciousness (ALOC). The authors hypothesized that a bispectral index monitor (BIS), a processed electroencephalographic monitor traditionally used to monitor patients under anesthesia, would represent an objective quantification of impairment of consciousness. They compared the BIS score with the Glasgow Coma Scale score (GCS) in emergency department (ED) patients with ALOC. ⋯ BIS monitoring does not reliably correlate with GCS in ED patients with ALOC, and does not appear to have potential to accurately quantify impairment of consciousness in this setting.