Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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To evaluate the effect of formal radiological reporting of all emergency department (ED) radiographs on clinical practice and patient outcome, and to consider whether a selective reporting policy might prove safe and effective. ⋯ The formal reporting of ED radiographs by the radiology department detects a number of clinically important abnormalities that have been overlooked. However, this formal reporting also generates a number of incorrect interpretations that may lead to further unnecessary investigations. Some groups of ED radiographs (such as those interpreted by an ED consultant and films of the fingers and toes) may not require formal radiological reporting. The adoption of a selective reporting policy may reduce the reporting workload of the radiology department without compromising patient care.
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A literature review was carried out to establish the extent of the literature on interventions for psychological distress and post-traumatic stress disorder in emergency ambulance personnel. A total of 292 articles were identified. ⋯ The primary intervention used with this population was critical incident stress debriefing, although there was some debate in the literature about the effectiveness of this intervention and the quality of the research conducted. More high quality research is needed on critical incident stress debriefing before being confident of its effectiveness.
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether osteopathy or chiropractic treatments improve outcome in patients with neck sprain. Altogether 206 papers were found using the reported search, of which nine presented 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. A clinical bottom line is stated
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether gastric lavage is indicated after tricyclic antidepressant overdose. Altogether 82 papers were found using the reported search, of which one presented 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 this best paper are tabulated. A clinical bottom line is stated.
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An evidence and consensus based guideline for the management of the child who presents to hospital having had a seizure. It does not deal with the child who is still seizing. The guideline is intended for use by junior doctors, and was developed for this common problem (5% of all paediatric medical attenders) where variation in practice occurs. ⋯ The guideline has undergone implementation and evaluation in a paediatric accident and emergency department, the results of which will be published separately. Only one alteration was made to the guideline as a result of this validation process, which is included here.