Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Vertigo is a priority for training and decision support in emergency departments (ED). Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), though manageable at bedside, remains frequently underdiagnosed and undertreated. This study assessed the effectiveness of a two-tiered educational intervention on posterior and horizontal BPPV management in the ED setting. ⋯ A standardized educational intervention demonstrated enhancing BPPV screening and improved evidence-based diagnosis, showing promise of more efficient treatment in the ED. Further multicenter studies are warranted to evaluate impacts on patient-reported outcomes and resource optimization.
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Gender-minority youth, whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth, have elevated suicide risk compared to cisgender youth, yet few studies examine their suicide risk in the emergency department (ED). Our objectives were to determine the prevalence of and assess risk and protective factors associated with prior suicide attempt (SA) and recent suicide ideation (SI) among gender-minority adolescents in the ED. ⋯ Among gender-minority ED adolescent patients, one in three experienced a SA prior to the ED visit. One in four endorsed SI within 2 weeks of the ED visit. The identified risk and protective factors among gender-minority adolescents may inform future ED-based efforts to detect and reduce suicide risk.
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Emergency department (ED) visits may serve as opportunities for firearm injury prevention and intervention efforts. Our objective was to determine ED utilization by youth before and after firearm injury. ⋯ Youth have high rates of ED utilization before and after firearm injury. Half of firearm-injured youth receive their emergency care exclusively in general EDs. Implementing firearm injury prevention and intervention efforts in all ED settings is critical.
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For emergency department (ED) patients, lung cancer may be detected early through incidental lung nodules (ILNs) discovered on chest CTs. However, there are significant errors in the communication and follow-up of incidental findings on ED imaging, particularly due to unstructured radiology reports. Natural language processing (NLP) can aid in identifying ILNs requiring follow-up, potentially reducing errors from missed follow-up. We sought to develop an open-access, three-step NLP pipeline specifically for this purpose. ⋯ We developed an accurate, open-access pipeline to identify ILNs with recommended follow-up on ED chest CTs. While the prevalence of recommended follow-up is lower than some prior studies, it more accurately reflects the prevalence of truly incidental findings without prior or known malignancy. Incorporating this tool could reduce errors by improving the identification, communication, and tracking of ILNs.