Advanced Journal of Emergency Medicine最新文献

Introduction: The purpose of triage in the standard Clinical Practice Guide (CPG) for multiple trauma patients is to perform the primary and secondary evaluations in the quickest and shortest possible time with minimal errors and the best quality in the emergency department (ED).

Objective: In this study, a practical program for a coordinated management of multiple trauma patients in the ED has been provided by using the CPG guide. The impact of its implementation on the multiple trauma patients' management was evaluated.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in 2014 and 2015 in Isfahan's Al-Zahra hospital ED. Administration and management of multiple trauma patients had been prepared before the implementation of the plan based on standard clinical methods of implementation in a way that used a 12-step protocol for the practical guide. This protocol was designed as a flowchart and the results before and after its implementation were evaluated.

Results: In this study, 100 multiple trauma patients before and after the implementation of the protocol were studied. The mean age of the patients and other baseline characteristics of studied patients in the two periods before and after implantation of the CPG were not significantly different (p > 0.05). The frequency of intubation (p = 0.016) and sent to the operating room (p < 0.001) were different in the two study periods. However, hospitalization in the ICU (p = 0.35) and death (p = 0.73) before and after implementation of the protocol were not statistically different. The time before examination by the EM physicians was significantly lower in all triage levels after CPG implementation. Meanwhile, no change in time elapsed occurred for the surgeons except for the patients in level 2 of triage.

Conclusion: Implementation of the strategic plan of CPG lead to a significant reduction in waiting time for visits by emergency medicine services and other specialized services, increased the deployment of patients needing surgery, and reducing the time spent in the ED.

Context: The aim of this study is to evaluate the applications of ultrasonography (US) as a diagnostic tool in emergency settings.

Evidence acquisition: In the present review article, search engines and scientific databases of Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, Medline, Scopus, and Cochrane were searched for the applications of US in emergencies. Finally, related articles which were published between 2000 and 2017, were selected and by reviewing them an attempt was made to evaluate various applications of US for examining and facilitating decision-making in emergency department (ED).

Results: As a diagnostic tool, US can be of diagnostic help in emergency settings for the specialists and the treatment team regarding trauma, measuring intracranial pressure (ICP), hemothorax pneumothorax, abscess and its drainage, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), dyspnea, acute abdomen, appendicitis and biliary problems, renal colic and renal stones, shock, foreign object, bone fracture, peripheral nerve block, establishing central and peripheral venous access, lumbar puncture (LP), and confirmation of nasogastric tube (NGT) and endotracheal tube (ETT) placement.

Conclusion: The results of this review study showed that US can be of help to EMPs as a diagnostic tool in a wide range of diseases and clinical conditions, which in turn can result in a decrease in the time needed for diagnosis and treatment, and therefore improve both the quality and quantity of the service provided in ED.

Introduction: Chest pain, which can be cardiac or non-cardiac and either benign or life-threatening, needs appropriate diagnosis and treatment in emergency department (ED).

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare delivery time of primary care for patients with chest pain before and after applying triage system in ED.

Methods: Medical records were reviewed of thirty patients (group one) with chief complaint of chest pain who referred to ED between April and July 2008 (before installing triage system) and thirty-five patients (group two) with the same chief complaint who referred between August and September 2009 (after installing triage system). Time between patients' arrival and beginning of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions including cardiac monitoring, first physician visit time, intravenous line insertion, and electrocardiogram performance were compared between the two groups.

Results: Based on the findings, the mean age and sex ratio of studied patients in the two groups were not significantly different (p>0.05). Door to ECG performance, Door to intravenous line insertion, and Door to cardiac monitoring were significantly shorter in post triage installing period than previously (p<0.001). Door to first visit by physician was not statistically different in the two study periods (p=0.421).

Conclusion: It is likely that patients with chest pain who referred to ED benefit from installing triage system in terms of performing some nursing care including ECG performance, starting cardiac monitoring, and IV insertion.

Introduction: Renal colic is caused by colicky spasms of ureters. As has been shown in previous experiments, glycerol trinitrate (TNG) can inhibit these muscular spasms.

Objective: This study was performed to assess the pain relieving effect of TNG among patients referred due to renal colic pain to the emergency department (ED).

Methods: This study is a randomized, placebo-controlled study on 60 patients with renal colic who were referred to the ED, who were diagnosed clinically to have renal colic, and their pain was more than 5 based on a visual analogue scale (VAS). The patient's pain was recorded at the moment of clinical diagnosis, and each one received one capsule, either 0.4 mg TNG or placebo, plus a 100 mg indomethacin suppository. The pain score was re-assessed after 5 and 30 min. The values were recorded and compared using SPSS-16 software.

Results: Sixty patients with a mean age of 35.75 ± 11.99 years were enrolled (73.3% male). Patients in the two groups were matched for age (p = 0.290), sex (p = 0.559), and the presence of microscopic hematuria (p = 0.292). Pain relief from the start point until the end of the intervention was statistical different in all studied patients (p < 0.05); but the comparison between the two groups showed no significant difference in this regard (p = 0.440).

Conclusion: It is likely that adding TNG to an indomethacin suppository had no significant effects on better pain management of patients referred with renal colic to the ED.

Introduction: Emergency overcrowding is defined as when the amount of care required for patients overcomes the available amount. This can cause delays in delivering critical care in situations like stroke.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the possible impact of emergency department (ED) crowding on the quality of care for acute stroke patients.

Methods: In this cross-sectional prospective study, all patients with symptoms of acute stroke presenting to the ED of educational hospitals were enrolled. All patients were assessed and examined by the emergency medicine (EM) residents on shift and a questionnaire was filled out for them. The amount of time that passed from the first triage to performing the required interventions and delivering health services were recorded by the triage nurse. ED crowding was measured by the occupancy rate. Then, the correlation between all of the variables and ED crowding level were calculated.

Results: The average daily bed occupancy rate was 184.9 ± 54.3%. The median time passed from the first triage to performing the interventions were as follows: the first EM resident visit after 34 min, the first neurologic visit after 138 min, head CT after 134 min, ECG after 104 min and ASA administration after 210 min. There was no statistically significant relationship between the ED occupancy rate and the time elapsed before different required health services in the management of stroke patients either throughout an entire day or during each 8-hour interval (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: In the current study, the ED occupancy rate was not significantly correlated with the time frame associated with management of admitted acute stroke patients.