Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
-
A short cut review was carried out to establish whether low dose CT can be used successfully in the diagnosis of renal tract disease in the ED. 280 papers were found using the reported search, of which 7 represent 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. The clinical bottom line is that unenhanced low dose CT can be used effectively in the investigation of suspected renal colic.
-
To determine the interrater reliability of triage acuity ratings by healthcare workers (HCW) using a previous triage system (PTS) and the Princess Marina Hospital accident and emergency centre triage scale (PATS), a local adaptation of the widely used and studied South African triage scale. ⋯ The reliability measures in this study indicate very high interrater agreement and limited variability in acuity ratings when using the PATS as opposed to moderate agreement and increased variability in acuity ratings when using PTS. This suggests that PATS is reliably applied by all levels of HCW and supports the feasibility of the further implementation of PATS in ED in Botswana and in other similar settings.
-
To identify what 10-11-year-old children do and do not learn during a 10 min session teaching the recovery position, with a view to suggesting possible improvements in training. ⋯ The implication is that in a short session it is over-ambitious to attempt to teach a complex routine. It is more realistic to focus on a few moves which are easily learnt. The present results suggest that these should be flexing the leg and rolling the casualty on to his/her side. In this study, simply improving the participants' performance of these two moves could increase the number of learners who are successful from less than a third to nearly 50%.
-
Injured patients presenting with hypothermia, acidosis and coagulopathy have been identified at high risk of death. This study aimed to describe the presentation, management and outcome of major trauma patients presenting with the 'triad of death' and identify ways to improve survival. ⋯ There has been little change in mortality over time in this subgroup of major trauma patients. While the presence of the triad alone does not determine futility, there were no survivors over 8 years with extreme coagulopathy with concurrent hypothermia and acidosis.