Isr Med Assoc J
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Many patients present to the emergency department with chest pain. While in most of them chest pain represents a benign complaint, in some patients it underlies a life-threatening illness. ⋯ Utilization of the CPU enabled a rapid and thorough evaluation of the patients' primary complaint, thereby reducing hospitalization costs and occupancy on the one hand and avoiding misdiagnosis in discharged patients on the other.
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While family presence during resuscitation has been researched extensively in the international and especially American medical literature, in Israel this subject has rarely been researched. Because such policies have become common practice in many countries, it is important to investigate the attitudes of health care staff in Israeli emergency departments to better understand the potential implication of adopting such policies. ⋯ More research is needed on FPDR in Israel, including an examination of its medical, ethical, legal and logistic aspects. In addition to the views of the medical staff, the attitudes of patients and their families should also be examined.
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Hyperbilirubinemia of the newborn is common. Rarely is an underlying disease other than physiologic hyperbilirubinemia considered the cause of high bilirubin levels. Some of the laboratory tests recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics are expensive and do not always lead to diagnosis. ⋯ Most neonates presenting with a laboratory identifiable etiology for hyperbilirubinemia (i.e., hemolysis) can be distinguished from those who test negative, mainly based on the timing of presentation and response to phototherapy. A more meticulous selection of patients and reduction in the magnitude of routine laboratory testing can safely reduce discomfort to infants with hyperbilirubinemia as well as costs.
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Infants who have experienced an apparent life-threatening event typically undergo an extensive evaluation to rule out serious underlying conditions. ⋯ The yield of most of the tests performed after an apparent life-threatening event is low, especially in infants with a normal perinatal history and physical examination.