Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Impact of surgeon-performed ultrasound on diagnosis of abdominal pain.
A randomised study was performed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of surgeon-performed ultrasound in the emergency department for patients presenting with abdominal pain. ⋯ For patients with acute abdominal pain, higher diagnostic accuracy is achieved when surgeons use ultrasound as a diagnostic complement to standard examination. The use of bedside ultrasound should be considered in emergency departments.
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Comparative Study
Near-patient testing of potassium levels using arterial blood gas analysers: can we trust these results?
Near-patient testing allows rapid availability of results to enable prompt decision-making. Potassium abnormalities are common in acutely ill patients and can be associated with life-threatening complications. At times there is uncertainty whether clinical decisions can be based on the potassium result obtained from arterial blood gas (ABG) analysers or if laboratory values should be awaited. ⋯ Most clinicians still await laboratory confirmation of results obtained from blood gas analysers but in this setting there is sufficient agreement between the results obtained from the authors' blood gas analyser and a laboratory analyser to enable effective clinical decisions to be made.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Impact of helical computed tomography in clinically evident appendicitis.
To determine the utility of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in patients with clinically evident acute appendicitis and to compare the test characteristics of overall clinical impression, Alvarado scores, and MDCT in suspected appendicitis. ⋯ The performance of abdominal MDCT in patients with a high degree of clinical suspicion for acute appendicitis reduces the number of false positives and has the potential to reduce negative appendectomies.