Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Association of advanced age with intubation-related adverse events in the emergency department: a multicentre prospective observational study.
While the older population accounts for an increasing proportion of emergency department (ED), little is known about intubation-related adverse events in this high-risk population. We sought to determine whether advanced age is associated with a higher risk of intubation-related adverse events in the ED. ⋯ Based on the data from a prospective multicentre study, advanced age was associated with higher risks of major adverse events.
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Government opioid policies-such as the North Carolina Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP) Act-have aided in lowering the days' supply of opioid prescriptions. However, what effect do these laws have on codeine-containing antitussive syrup? We aimed to assess the effect of the North Carolina STOP Act on ED opioid prescriptions written for >5 days for acute pain/non-pain diagnoses and whether it had an effect on the prescribing of codeine-containing antitussive syrup. ⋯ The North Carolina STOP Act was associated with a reduction in the overall percentage of opioid prescriptions for >5 days for acute pain/non-pain diagnoses. However, there was no statistically significant effect on the prescribing of codeine-containing antitussive syrup.
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Multicenter Study
Early warning scores to assess the probability of critical illness in patients with COVID-19.
Validated clinical risk scores are needed to identify patients with COVID-19 at risk of severe disease and to guide triage decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the performance of early warning scores (EWS) in the ED when identifying patients with COVID-19 who will require intensive care unit (ICU) admission for high-flow-oxygen usage or mechanical ventilation. ⋯ In this multicentre study, the best performing models to predict ICU admittance were the NEWS2 and the Quick COVID-19 Severity Index Score, with fair diagnostic performance. However, due to the moderate performance, these models cannot be clinically used to adequately predict the need for ICU admission within 24 hours in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection presenting at the ED.
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Observational Study
Feasibility and usefulness of rapid 2-channel-EEG-monitoring (point-of-care EEG) for acute CNS disorders in the paediatric emergency department: an observational study.
The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility and clinical utility of point-of-care electroencephalogram (pocEEG) in the paediatric emergency department (ED) for children presenting with acute non-traumatic central nervous system (CNS) disorders. ⋯ Uptake of pocEEG introduction has been very encouraging. Provider ratings were overwhelmingly positive. Recognition of non-convulsive status epilepticus was improved and pocEEG facilitated more targeted interventions.
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National Early Warning Score (NEWS) does not include age as a parameter despite age is a significant independent risk factor of death. The aim of this study was to examine whether age has an effect on predictive performance of short-term mortality of NEWS in a prehospital setting. We also evaluated whether adding age as an additional parameter to NEWS improved its short-term mortality prediction. ⋯ Age should be considered as an additional parameter to NEWS, as it improved its performance in predicting short-term mortality in this prehospital cohort.