The western journal of emergency medicine
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Academic departments of emergency medicine are becoming increasingly involved in assisting with the development of long-term emergency medicine training programs in low and middle-income countries. This article presents our 10-year experience working with local partners to improve emergency medical care education in Guyana. ⋯ While every program has unique challenges, it is likely many of the issues we have faced are generalizable to other settings and will be useful to other programs considering or currently conducting this type of collaborative project.
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Lower abdominal pain in females of reproductive age continues to be a diagnostic dilemma for the emergency physician (EP). Point-of-care ultrasound (US) allows for rapid, accurate, and safe evaluation of abdominal and pelvic pain in both the pregnant and non-pregnant patient. We present 3 cases of females presenting with right lower quadrant and adnexal tenderness where transvaginal ultrasonography revealed acute appendicitis. The discussion focuses on the use of EP- performed transvaginal US in gynecologic and intra-abdominal pathology and discusses the use of a staged approach to evaluation using US and computed tomography, as indicated.
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The purpose of this study was to test if intravenous (IV) fluids warmed to body temperature are associated with greater patient comfort than room temperature IV fluids in adult emergency department (ED) patients. ⋯ In this small trial of adult ED patients, infusing IV fluids warmed to body temperature was associated with improved comfort compared to standard, room temperature IV fluids.
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Ultrasound-guided intraarticular hip corticosteroid injections may be useful for emergency care providers treating patients with painful exacerbations of osteoarthritis of the hip. Corticosteroid injection is widely recommended as a first-line treatment for painful osteoarthritis of the hip. Bedside ultrasound is readily available in most emergency departments; however, using ultrasound to guide therapeutic hip injections has not yet been described in emergency practice. Herein, we present the first description of a successful emergency physician-performed ultrasound-guided hip injection of local anesthetic and corticosteroid for pain control in a patient with an acute exacerbation of osteoarthritis.
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Triage of patients is critical to patient safety, yet no clear information exists as to the utility of initial vital signs in identifying critically ill older emergency department (ED) patients. The objective of this study is to evaluate a set of initial vital sign thresholds as predictors of severe illness and injury among older adults presenting to the ED. ⋯ Emergency provider assessment and triage scores that rely primarily on initial vital signs are likely to miss a substantial portion of critically ill older adults.