European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Sudden cardiac arrest has a high incidence and often leads to death. A treatment option that might improve the outcomes in refractory cardiac arrest is Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (ECPR). ⋯ This retrospective study shows that around 10% of cardiac arrest patients are eligible to ECPR. Less than half of these patients eligible to ECPR were actually treated with ECPR in both IHCA and OHCA.
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Treatment of acute pain in older patients is a common challenge faced in emergency departments (EDs). Despite many studies that have investigated chronic analgesic use in the elderly, data on patterns of acute use, especially in EDs, of analgesics according to patient characteristics is scarce. ⋯ Use of analgesics in older individuals in EDs is mildly augmented in women and increases with age, with PM use increasing and NSAIDs decreasing with age. Conversely, opiate use is quite constant according to sex and age. Age-related patterns differ according to sex, with age-related curves of women showing higher probabilities than those of men to receive any analgesic, PM or opiates.
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Endotracheal intubation is a lifesaving procedure that is reportedly associated to a significant risk of adverse events. Recent trials have reported that the use of videolaryngoscope and of a stylet might limit this risk during emergency intubation. ⋯ In this large French survey, the majority of EDs recommended direct laryngoscopy without stylet, with seldom use of videolaryngoscopy.