Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Digital anaesthesia: one injection or two?
Digital nerve blocks (DNB) are performed frequently in the Emergency Department (ED). The aim of this study was to establish whether single injection subcutaneous digital nerve block (SDNB) is as effective as the traditional (two injection) digital nerve block (TDNB) for digital anaesthesia. ⋯ SDNB is as effective as TDNB. Outcome measures favoured SDNB, but only CS scores achieved statistical significance. Trial recruitment is much slower than anticipated. However, clinical practice has demonstrated that SDNB works and practice is already changing within the Hampshire region, with some departments adopting SDNB as standard practice. Therefore, the results are being presented now to allow clinicians to make an informed choice. Our results may also contribute to future metanalyses.
-
The authors aimed to assess the repeatability of the Manchester Triage System (MTS) in children. ⋯ The MTS showed good to very good repeatability in paediatric emergency care.
-
Dizziness is a common presenting complaint in the emergency department (ED). This prospective study describes the incidence, causes and outcome of ED patients presenting with dizziness and tries to identify predictors of central neurological causes of dizziness. ⋯ Most dizzy patients had benign causes. Several clinical factors favoured a diagnosis of central neurological causes of dizziness.
-
The Heimlich manoeuvre is well recognised worldwide as an emergency technique to clear an obstructed airway. The potential for serious injury to the choking victim is also well reported. ⋯ He eventually made a full recovery from his injury. However, we need to be aware of the possibility of injury in the rescuer as well as the rescued.
-
Comparative Study
Characteristics of medication overdose presentations to the ED: how do they differ from illicit drug overdose and self-harm cases?
Medication overdose accounts for >80% of hospital presentations for self-harm. Previous research has identified typical characteristics of medication overdose cases; however, these cases have not been well differentiated from other similar presentations, namely (1) illicit drug overdose and (2) self-harm by means other than overdose. ⋯ On both demographic and treatment variables, patients attending the ED following a medication overdose more closely resemble those attending for self-harm by means other than overdose than those attending for illicit drug overdose.