Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Review Meta Analysis
Systemic antibiotics after incision and drainage of simple abscesses: a meta-analysis.
Over the last decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of cutaneous abscesses. While there is general agreement that abscesses should be treated with incision and drainage, it is unclear whether systemic antibiotics should be routinely prescribed. ⋯ When given in addition to incision and drainage, systemic antibiotics do not significantly improve the percentage of patients with complete resolution of their abscesses.
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A shortcut review was carried out to establish whether ultrasonography was a reliable and accurate imaging modality to detect rotator cuff tears in adult patients. Four papers were found to be relevant to the clinical question following the below-described search strategies. ⋯ It is concluded that ultrasound has a diagnostic accuracy high enough to detect full-thickness rotator cuff tears. It is, however, less accurate in detecting partial-thickness ruptures.
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Little is known about the expectations of patients attending the emergency department (ED) with minor injuries. Failure to address expectations may lead to dissatisfaction and poor compliance. We aimed to describe patient expectations of minor injury care and explore the association between unmet expectations and patient satisfaction. ⋯ Patients often expect interventions for minor injuries that they do not receive, but in most cases an explanation was given. We were unable to demonstrate an association between unmet expectations and reduced satisfaction with care.
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Social media and mobile applications that allow people to work anywhere are changing the way people can contribute and collaborate. ⋯ It is feasible to engage a mobile workforce to complete health research-related tasks. Participants were able to validate information about emergency public health resources.
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Comparative Study
Frequent users of US emergency departments: characteristics and opportunities for intervention.
To compare the characteristics of US adults by frequency of emergency department (ED) utilisation, specifically the prevalence of chronic diseases and outpatient primary care and mental health utilisation. ⋯ Frequent ED users had a large burden of chronic diseases that also required high outpatient resources. Interventions designed to divert frequent ED users should focus on chronic disease management and access to outpatient services, particularly for Medicaid beneficiaries and other high risk subpopulations.