Articles: emergency-department.
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Observational Study
Risk factors associated with difficult venous access in adult ED patients.
The objective was to determine risk factors associated with difficult venous access (DVA) in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Nearly 1 of every 9 to 10 adults in an urban ED had DVA. Diabetes, IV drug abuse, and sickle cell disease were found to be significantly associated with DVA.
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Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a rapidly progressing and potentially lethal infectious disease of the soft tissue. An elevated red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is associated with increased risk of death in patients with heart disease and infectious disease. We retrospectively assessed the association of elevated RDW with in-hospital mortality due to NF. ⋯ Elevated RDW is a significant and independent predictor of in-hospital mortality for patients with NF.
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To determine how age and gender impact resource utilization and profitability in patients seen and released from an Emergency Department (ED). ⋯ Resource utilization increased and profitability decreased with increasing age in patients seen and released from an ED. The care of women of childbearing age resulted in higher resource utilization and higher profitability than men of the same age. No differences in resource utilization or profitability by gender were observed in children and adults over 45.
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To investigate the experiences of patients with acute abdominal pain at discharge from an emergency department observation unit compared with discharge from a surgical assessment unit. ⋯ Units discharging patients with acute abdominal pain could be inspired by scheduled fast-track surgery programmes with structured information about admission, treatment and follow-up and easy access to relevant health professionals after discharge.
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The objective was to determine whether several measures of emergency department (ED) crowding are associated with an important indicator of quality and safety: time to reevaluation of children with documented critically abnormal triage vital signs. ⋯ Emergency department crowding was associated with delay in the reassessment of critically abnormal vital signs in children; further work is needed to develop systems to mitigate these delays.