Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Trauma team activation criteria have a variable performance in the paediatric population. We aimed to identify predictors for high-level resource utilisation during trauma resuscitation in the ED. ⋯ As utilisation of high-level resources in paediatric trauma was rare, it was difficult to find an appropriate balance between under-triage and over-triage. Between the two, minimising the proportion of under-triage is more important as patient safety is paramount in paediatric trauma care.
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Dental emergencies are common reasons for presenting to hospital emergency departments. Here, we discuss the panoramic radiograph (orthopantomogram (OPG, OPT) as a diagnostic tool for the assessment of mandibular trauma and odontogenic infections. ⋯ The aim is to equip the emergency physician with the skills to use the OPG radiograph when available, and to rapidly assess the image to expedite patient management. Included is a discussion of a number of cases seen in the emergency setting and some common errors in diagnosis.
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Observational Study
Why are people increasingly attending the emergency department? A study of the French healthcare system.
It is often asserted that the crowding phenomenon in emergency departments (ED) can be explained by an increase in visits considered as non-urgent. The aim of our study was to quantify the increase in ED visit rates and to determine whether this increase was explained by non-severe visit types. ⋯ It appears that the increase in ED use is not based on an increase in non-severe visit types, with a greater impact of intermediate-severity visit types requiring diagnostic or therapeutic procedures in ED.
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A short cut review of the literature was carried out to establish whether topical phenylephrine was an effective treatment for non-traumatic epistaxis. A single paper looked at this modality comparing it to another topical treatment. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses are tabulated. It is concluded that further more robust studies are needed to answer this question.