Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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To examine whether the timing of delivery of intravenous antibiotics following open limb fractures has an effect on deep infection rates and other outcomes. ⋯ Sufficiently robust evidence is not available currently to determine whether the timing of delivery of intravenous antibiotics has an effect on the risk of deep infection or other outcomes following open limb fractures. There is therefore a need for a randomised controlled trial in this area before policy changes should be instigated.
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To examine whether the timing of delivery of intravenous antibiotics following open limb fractures has an effect on deep infection rates and other outcomes. ⋯ Sufficiently robust evidence is not available currently to determine whether the timing of delivery of intravenous antibiotics has an effect on the risk of deep infection or other outcomes following open limb fractures. There is therefore a need for a randomised controlled trial in this area before policy changes should be instigated.
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A shortcut review was carried out to establish whether the presence of systemic inflammatory response criteria in emergency department patients with pancreatitis is predictive of the risk of death. Eight papers presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The review concludes that the presence of SIRS in emergency department patients with pancreatitis is associated with a higher risk of mortality.
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A shortcut review was carried out to establish whether serum procalcitonin levels can be used to identify serious bacterial infection in ED patients with undifferentiated SIRS. 14 papers presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The review concludes that raised procalcitonin levels are associated with bacteraemia; however, there are no clinical management studies addressing this question in ED patients with SIRS.