Journal of the American College of Surgeons
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Editorial Comment
Breast cancer pathology reporting practice and guidelines.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effects of morphine analgesia on diagnostic accuracy in Emergency Department patients with abdominal pain: a prospective, randomized trial.
Because of concerns about masking important physical findings, there is controversy surrounding whether it is safe to provide analgesia to patients with undifferentiated abdominal pain. The purpose of this study was to address the effects of analgesia on the physical examination and diagnostic accuracy for patients with abdominal pain. ⋯ Results of this study support a practice of early provision of analgesia to patients with undifferentiated abdominal pain.
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Multicenter Study
Concordance with breast cancer pathology reporting practice guidelines.
Accurate pathology reporting is important for treatment of breast cancer. The College of American Pathologists (CAP) distributed guidelines for reporting cancer specimens in 1998. The aim of this study was to determine community-wide concordance with CAP breast cancer reporting guidelines. ⋯ Breast cancer pathology reporting varies widely. Key elements that affect treatment are often omitted. These include gross description and size, orientation and involvement of surgical margins, and description of histologic features, including Bloom Scarf Richardson reporting of grade and the extent of an in situ component. Passive distribution of CAP practice guidelines might be insufficient to accomplish community-wide quality improvement in breast pathology reporting.