European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Multicenter Study
Medically unexplained physical symptoms in patients visiting the emergency department: an international multicentre retrospective study.
The objective of this study was to assess the incidence and characteristics of patients presenting with physical symptoms that remain medically unexplained at the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Physical symptoms remain unexplained in a significant number of patients at the time of ED assessment.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Optimising emergency weight estimation in underweight and obese children: the accuracy of estimations of total body weight and ideal body weight.
During medical emergencies, underweight and obese children are at a higher risk of weight-estimation errors than 'average' children, which may lead to poorer outcomes. In obese children, optimum drug dosing requires a measure of both total body weight (TBW) and ideal body weight (IBW) for appropriate scaling. We evaluated the ability of the Broselow tape, the Mercy method and the PAWPER XL tape to estimate TBW and IBW in obese and underweight children. ⋯ The Broselow tape predicted IBW, but not TBW, accurately. The Mercy method estimated TBW very accurately, but not IBW. The PAWPER XL tape estimated both TBW and IBW accurately. The PAWPER XL tape should be considered when choosing a weight-estimation strategy for obese and underweight children.
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Multicenter Study
Management of anaphylaxis in Spain: pediatric emergency care providers' knowledge.
Acute care providers must diagnose and treat patients with anaphylaxis. The objective was to analyze Spanish pediatric emergency departments' (ED) providers' knowledge of the international recommendations for the management of anaphylaxis. ⋯ Even though the Spanish pediatric ED providers' knowledge of the management of anaphylaxis is good, certain improvement areas are identified in both the identification and the management of these patients.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Socioeconomic status and incidence of cardiac arrest: a spatial approach to social and territorial disparities.
Cardiac arrest (CA) is considered a major public health issue. Few studies have focused on geographic variations in incidence and socioeconomic characteristics. The aim of this study is to identify clusters of municipalities with high or low CA incidence, and find socioeconomic factors associated with them. ⋯ This study shows strong geographical variations in CA incidence and a statistically significant relationship between over-incidence and social deprivation variables.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Paediatric procedural sedation and analgesia by emergency physicians in a country with a recent establishment of emergency medicine.
Paediatric patients receive less procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA) in the emergency department compared with adults, especially in countries where emergency medicine is at an early stage of development. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the adverse events and efficacy of paediatric PSA in a country with a recent establishment of emergency medicine and to describe which factors aided implementation. ⋯ Paediatric PSA provided by the first EPs in The Netherlands showed appropriate levels of sedation and analgesia with a high rate of procedure completion and a low rate of adverse events. Our paper suggests that EPs provided with a proper infrastructure of mentorship, training and guidelines can implement effective paediatric PSA.