Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether levels of S-100b were predictive of long-term disability after head injury. 200 papers were found using the reported searches, of which 12 presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date, and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. It is concluded that a raised level of S-100b is a marker of poorer long-term outcome after both major and minor head injury.
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether prehospital intubation was of benefit to patients with moderate to severe head injury. 4630 papers were found using the reported searches, of which 9 presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results, and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. It is concluded that prehospital intubation is associated with increased mortality in these patients.
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Review
Detection of coins ingested by children using a handheld metal detector: a systematic review.
To determine if the use of a handheld metal detector (HHMD) can safely reduce the number of radiographs requested in cases of coins ingested by children, a search was performed to identify prospective studies of the ability of an HHMD to identify the presence or absence of ingested coin in children (17 years or younger). Outcome measures were presence or absence of coin on metal detector screening, and accuracy of coin localisation. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined. ⋯ The overall specificity of the HHMD was 100% (76.8 to 100%). Use of the HHMD is an accurate, radiation free, and cost effective method of identifying and localising coins ingested by children. An algorithm for investigating children with coin ingestion is proposed.
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether pre-injury aspirin increases the risk of intracranial complications following head injury. 124 papers were found using the reported searches, of which three presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date, and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results, and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. It is concluded that aspirin may increase the risk of developing intracranial complications. More research is needed.
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether headache was a significant indicator of the severity of head injury in children. 301 papers were found using the reported searches, of which 2 presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date, and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results, and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. It is concluded that headache is not an independent risk factor for intracranial injury in children.