The western journal of emergency medicine
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Endotracheal intubation (ETI) is currently considered superior to supraglottic airway devices (SGA) for survival and other outcomes among adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We aimed to determine if the research supports this conclusion by conducting a systematic review. ⋯ Current evidence does not conclusively support the superiority of ETI over SGA for multiple outcomes among adults with OHCA.
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The U. S. national out-of-hospital and in-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates, although improving recently, have remained suboptimal despite the collective efforts of individuals, communities, and professional societies. ⋯ The reality of current approaches to sudden cardiac arrest is that they are often lacking an integrative, multi-disciplinary approach, and without deserved funding and outcome analysis. In this manuscript, a multidisciplinary group of authors propose practice, process, technology, and policy initiatives to improve cardiac arrest survival with a focus on neurologic function.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Randomized trial of a novel ACLS teaching tool: does it improve student performance?
Mounting evidence suggests that high-fidelity mannequin-based (HFMBS) and computer-based simulation are useful adjunctive educational tools for advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) instruction. We sought to determine whether access to a supplemental, online computer-based ACLS simulator would improve students' performance on a standardized Mega Code using high-fidelity mannequin based simulation (HFMBS). ⋯ The reduction in time to defibrillate ventricular fibrillation and to pace symptomatic bradycardia among the intervention group subjects suggests that the online computer-based ACLS simulator is an effective adjunctive ACLS instructional tool.
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Clinical Trial
Pilot study of ultrasound-guided corticosteroid hip injections by emergency physicians.
Our objective was to assess the efficacy of ultrasound-guided hip injections performed by emergency physicians (EPs) for the treatment of chronic hip pain in an outpatient clinic setting. ⋯ Under the supervision of an attending EP, junior emergency medicine resident physicians can safely and effectively inject hips for chronic pain relief in an outpatient clinical setting using ultrasound guidance.
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Appendicitis is a common condition presenting to the emergency department (ED). Increasingly emergency physicians (EP) are using bedside ultrasound (BUS) as an adjunct diagnostic tool. Our objective is to investigate the test characteristics of BUS for the diagnosis of appendicitis and identify components of routine ED workup and BUS associated with the presence of appendicitis. ⋯ BUS is moderately useful for appendicitis diagnosis. We also identified several components in routine ED workup and BUS that are associated with appendicitis generating hypothesis for future studies.