Articles: emergency-services.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Pain One Week After an Emergency Department Visit for Acute Low Back Pain Is Associated With Poor Three-month Outcomes.
Low back pain (LBP) is responsible for more than 2.5 million visits to U.S. emergency departments (EDs) annually. Nearly 30% of patients who present to an ED with acute LBP report functional impairment or pain 3 months later. These patients are at risk of chronic LBP, a highly debilitating condition. In this study, we assessed whether three variables assessable shortly after symptom onset could independently predict poor 3-month outcomes among LBP patients who present to an ED. ⋯ More than one-third of patients reported functional impairment 3 months after an ED visit for acute, nontraumatic, nonradicular LBP. Moderate or severe LBP was less common, reported in about half as many patients (16%). Of the three hypothesized predictor variables, only persistent pain at 1 week was independently associated with poor outcomes at 3 months. Despite its important role in the outpatient setting, the STarT Back Tool was not associated with poor outcomes in this ED cohort.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Aug 2018
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyUse of the prognostic biomarker suPAR in the emergency department improves risk stratification but has no effect on mortality: a cluster-randomized clinical trial (TRIAGE III).
Risk stratification of patients in the emergency department can be strengthened using prognostic biomarkers, but the impact on patient prognosis is unknown. The aim of the TRIAGE III trial was to investigate whether the introduction of the prognostic and nonspecific biomarker: soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) for risk stratification in the emergency department reduces mortality in acutely admitted patients. ⋯ The TRIAGE III trial found no effect of introducing the nonspecific and prognostic biomarker suPAR in emergency departments on short- or long-term all-cause mortality among acutely admitted patients. Further research is required to evaluate how prognostic biomarkers can be implemented in routine clinical practice.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
A randomized-controlled trial of a patient-centred intervention in high-risk discharged older patients.
The risk of early reattendance after discharge has been proposed as a performance indicator for emergency departments (EDs), but is not uniform in all patients. Those individuals at the highest risk of reattendance may benefit from an intense intervention to reduce this risk, and our objective was to test this hypothesis in a clinical trial. ⋯ This postdischarge intervention was associated with only small and nonsignificant reductions in ED reattendance.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Specialist Advice Support for Management of Severe Hereditary Angioedema Attacks: A Multicenter Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.
Hereditary angioedema is a rare disease associated with unpredictable, recurrent attacks of potentially life-threatening edema. Management of severe attacks is currently suboptimal because emergency medical teams are often unaware of new specific treatments. The objective of this trial is to test whether a dedicated national telephone care-management strategy would reduce resource use during severe hereditary angioedema attacks. ⋯ A national dedicated call center for management of severe hereditary angioedema attacks is associated with a decrease in hospital admissions and may be cost-effective if facilities and staff are available to deliver the intervention alongside existing services.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Implementing evidence-based practices in the care of infants with bronchiolitis in Australasian acute care settings: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled study.
Bronchiolitis is the most common reason for admission to hospital for infants less than one year of age. Although management is well defined, there is substantial variation in practice, with infants receiving ineffective therapies or management. This study will test the effectiveness of tailored, theory informed knowledge translation (KT) interventions to decrease the use of five clinical therapies or management processes known to be of no benefit, compared to usual dissemination practices in infants with bronchiolitis. The primary objective is to establish whether the KT interventions are effective in increasing compliance to five evidence based recommendations in the first 24 h following presentation to hospital. The five recommendations are that infants do not receive; salbutamol, antibiotics, glucocorticoids, adrenaline, or a chest x-ray. ⋯ This study will contribute to the body of knowledge to determine the effectiveness of tailored, theory informed interventions in acute care paediatric settings, with the aim of reducing the evidence to practice gaps in the care of infants with bronchiolitis.