The western journal of emergency medicine
-
Consensus guidelines recommend sepsis screening for adults with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), but the epidemiology of SIRS among adult emergency department (ED) patients is poorly understood. Recent emphasis on cost-effective, outcomes-based healthcare prompts the evaluation of the performance of large-scale efforts such as sepsis screening. We studied a nationally representative sample to clarify the epidemiology of SIRS in the ED and subsequent category of illness. ⋯ SIRS is very common in the ED. Infectious etiologies make up only a quarter of adult SIRS cases. SIRS may be more useful if modified by clinician judgment when used as a screening test in the rapid identification and assessment of patients with the potential for sepsis. [West J Emerg Med. 2014;15(3):329-336.].
-
National guidelines suggest that most skin abscesses do not require antibiotics, and that cellulitis antibiotics should target streptococci, not community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA). The objective of this study is to describe antimicrobial treatment of skin infections in U.S. emergency departments (EDs) and analyze potential quality measures. ⋯ From 2007-2010, use of anti-CA-MRSA agents for skin infections increased significantly, despite stable visit frequencies. Antibiotics were over-used for discharged abscess cases, and CA-MRSA-active antibiotics were underused among regimens when antibiotics were used for abscess. [West J Emerg Med. 2014;15(3):282-289.].
-
Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN), defined as an increase in serum creatinine (SCr) greater than 25% or ≥0.5 mg/dL within 3 days of intravenous (IV) contrast administration in the absence of an alternative cause, is the third most common cause of new acute renal failure in hospitalized patients. It is known to increase in-hospital mortality up to 27%. The purpose of this study was to investigate the rate of outpatient follow up and the occurrence of CIN in patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) and were discharged home after computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen and pelvis (AP) with IV contrast. ⋯ There was a poor outpatient follow up after CT of AP with IV contrast and biochemically CIN appears to be present in some patients. Unlike previous reports that CKD is the major risk factor for CIN, our results demonstrated that risk factors such as advanced age, DM and hypertension seem to predispose patients to CIN rather than abnormal baseline SCr. [West J Emerg Med. 2014;15(3):276-281.].
-
The primary objective was to identify the most common reasons for intending to cut back on alcohol use, in emergency department (ED) and trauma patient populations. The secondary objective was to determine the association between reason to cut back on alcohol and education level. ⋯ Health, injury, finances, and legal issues remain top concerns for patients, while trauma patients specifically had proportionately more concerns with situations where they could get hurt.