Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To test the hypotheses that ED patients' desires for medical information and for autonomy in decision making are inversely related to increasing acuity of illness, increasing age, and lower level of formal education. ⋯ Among ED patients able to participate, higher acuity of illness was not associated with a decreased desire for medical information. Many very acutely ill patients preferred autonomy in medical decision making. Older patients and those with less formal education expressed a lesser desire for decision-making autonomy.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Octylcyanoacrylate for the treatment of partial-thickness burns in swine: a randomized, controlled experiment.
To compare re-epithelialization rates of superficial partial-thickness burns treated with octylcyanoacrylate (OCA), silver sulfadiazine (SSD), and dry gauze (controls) in swine. ⋯ Under these study conditions, treatment of partial-thickness burns with OCA spray resulted in a higher percent of re-epithelialization at seven but not 14 days when compared with both SSD and control, with no significant increase in infection rates. Future studies should evaluate the use of OCA for the treatment of burns in humans.
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To explore whether patients in a public ED had poorer health than patients in a private ED, the authors compared the physical and mental health statuses of patients seeking emergency care. ⋯ Patients seeking care in the public ED had lower adjusted physical health status scores than comparable patients obtaining care in a private ED. The SF-12 is sufficiently responsive to detect hypothesized differences between ED populations, and correlates well with admission decisions.
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Extracorporeal support of heart and lung function (venoarterial perfusion) during cardiac arrest (ECPR) has been advocated as a means of improving survival following cardiac arrest. The authors retrospectively reviewed their institution's seven-year experience with this intervention. ⋯ In select patients with reversible disease, extracorporeal CPR can be used to successfully treat cardiac arrest. Further investigation into its most appropriate application is warranted.