Articles: emergency-department.
-
The Journal of urology · Jan 2014
Emergency department visits in the United States for upper urinary tract stones: trends in hospitalization and charges.
Using the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) we examined trends in visits, hospitalization and charges for patients with upper urinary tract stones who presented to the emergency department in the United States. ⋯ Women showed significant annual increases in emergency department visits for upper urinary tract stones. While emergency department charges increased substantially, hospitalization rates remained stable. Greater use of computerized tomography and medical expulsive therapy could be the reasons for this observation, which warrants further study.
-
Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Jan 2014
Causes of elevated D-dimer in patients admitted to a large urban emergency department.
Although the request for D-dimer is widespread in emergency departments (EDs), the causes of elevation and their relationship with D-dimer levels in patients with diagnostic values are uncertain. ⋯ These results show that D-dimer lacks specificity for diagnosing VTE, especially in elderly patients admitted to the ED with significant co-morbidities. In older patients, elevated values (>1000ng/mL) are more frequently associated with VTE, so the use of higher cut-offs may be advantageous.
-
ABSTRACTBackground:One of the many challenges facing emergency departments (EDs) across North America is timely access to emergency radiology services. Academic institutions, which are typically also regional referral centres, frequently require cross-sectional studies to be performed 24 hours a day with expedited final reports to accelerate patient care and ED flow. Objective:The purpose of this study was to determine if the presence of an in-house radiologist, in addition to a radiology resident dedicated to the ED, had a significant impact on report turnaround time. ⋯ Conclusion:Our results indicate that the presence of a dedicated ED radiologist significantly reduces final report turnaround time and thus may positively impact the time to ED patient disposition. Patient care is improved when attending radiologists are immediately available to read complex films, both in terms of health care outcomes and regarding the need for repeat testing. Providing emergency physicians with accurate imaging findings as rapidly as possible facilitates effective and timely management and thus optimizes patient care.
-
BMJ quality & safety · Jan 2014
A system-wide approach to explaining variation in potentially avoidable emergency admissions: national ecological study.
Some emergency admissions can be avoided if acute exacerbations of health problems are managed by the range of health services providing emergency and urgent care. ⋯ Interventions to reduce avoidable admissions should be targeted at deprived communities. Better use of emergency departments, ambulance services and primary care could further reduce avoidable emergency admissions.
-
The aims of the study were to identify the characteristics of elderly frequent attenders to the emergency department (ED) presenting with chest pain and to assess the 1-year prognosis for developing adverse cardiac events. ⋯ Elderly frequent attenders to the ED, who present with chest pain, have more cardiac risk factors and are more likely to develop adverse coronary outcomes if they re-attend with chest pain.