Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether routine chest x rays are required following bronchoscopy guided percutaneous dilational tracheostomy (PDT). A total of 393 citations were reviewed of which six answered the three part question. The clinical bottom line is that at present there is no clinical evidence to support routine postprocedure chest x ray following bronchoscopy guided percutaneous dilatianal tracheostomy.
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To examine whether current validation methods of emergency department triage scales actually assess the instrument's validity. ⋯ Numerous limitations are embedded in the process of validating triage scales. Methods of triage scale validation in developed countries may not be appropriate and repeatable in developing countries. Even in developed countries there are problems in conceptualising validation methods. A new consensus building validation approach has been constructed and recommended for a developing country setting. The Delphi method, a consensual validation process, is advanced as a more appropriate alternative for validating triage scales in developing countries.
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether ultrasonography can assist in the performing of a lumbar puncture. Fifty-one citations were reviewed of which three answered the three part question. The clinical bottom line is that ultrasound shows early promise as a tool to assist in achieving a successful lumbar puncture.
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) are at risk of embolism during ultrasound compression testing. No papers were found that directly answered the clinical question. The clinical bottom line is that currently there is no evidence to suggest that compressing vessels in order to identify a DVT could cause an embolic event. Therefore we can consider ultrasound assessment a safe reliable investigation for the diagnosis of DVT with no evidence of causing harm.