Articles: emergency-department.
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Aims/Background Symptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms carry significant mortality risk. This is supplemented by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine guidelines which suggest imaging for patients 50 years of age or older presenting with unexplained abdominal, flank, or back pain. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and mortality rates of patients with symptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms in a high-risk population and to assess scanning rates in the accident and emergency department. ⋯ However, this study reveals that scanning rates in the emergency department are low. The encouragement of scanning and improved ultrasound skills among emergency medicine clinicians can reduce missed diagnoses. Additionally, we recommend further studies to assess the mortality rates of emergent abdominal aortic aneurysm presentations.
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Background Predicting potential overcrowding is a significant tool in efficient emergency department (ED) management. Our aim was to develop and validate overcrowding predictive models using accessible and high quality information. Methods Retrospective cohort study of consecutive days in the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires ED from june 2016 to may 2018. ⋯ Discrimination for the main model had an area under the receiveroperator curve of 0.997 (95% CI 0.994 - 1) in the validation group. Calibration for the model was very high on internal validation and acceptable on external validation. Conclusion The Sustained Critical EDOC predictive model includes variables that are easily obtained and can be used for effective resource management in situations of overcrowding.
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The accuracy of using HEART (history, electrocardiogram, age, risk factors, and troponin) scores with high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) to risk stratify emergency department (ED) chest pain patients remains uncertain. We aim to compare the performance accuracy of determining major adverse cardiac event (MACE) among three modified HEART (mHEART) scores with the use of hs-cTn to risk stratify ED chest pain patients. This retrospective single-center observational study included ED patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome who had HEAR scores calculated and at least one hs-cTnI result. ⋯ The 30-day MACE rates were 0.53%, 1.37%, and 2.00% for patients whose hs-cTnI was beyond the cutoffs of LoD, LoQ, and URL, respectively. However, when low risk was defined as an mHEART score of 0-3, the 30-day MACE rates ranged from 0.33 to 0.62% across different mHEART scores. The mHEART score for risk stratification of low-risk chest pain patients shows acceptable accuracy in predicting MACE outcomes.
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Drug administration is crucial to achieve effective therapeutic drug outcomes. In medical emergencies, it is particularly convenient to use drugs that could be administered as an alternative to traditional routes (as oral or intravenous routes), that are not always suitable in these situations. ⋯ The evidence obtained has been divided into four common scenarios found in the emergency department and intensive care units: cardiovascular emergencies, acute pain, agitation, and epileptic status. Moreover, the main advantages and disadvantages of sublingual and buccal routes are presented, as the future perspectives in the drug delivery field to overcome the limitations of these routes.