American Journal of Emergency Medicine

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INTRODUCTION: A great deal of literature has recently evaluated the prevention and management of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in the outpatient setting, but there remains a dearth of research evaluating OHSS in the emergency department (ED) and its management. OBJECTIVE: This narrative review evaluates the underlying pathophysiology and clinical manifestations of OHSS and discusses approaches to patient care in the ED based on current literature. DISCUSSION: OHSS is an iatrogenic complication caused by an excessive response to controlled ovarian stimulation during assisted reproductive cycles (ART)...

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BACKGROUND: Psychogenic fever is a stress-related psychosomatic disease and has been recognized clinically since the early twentieth century. It is common in adolescents or young women with acute or persistent elevation in body temperature. Psychogenic fever can be attenuated by anxiolytic, neuroleptic, or by psychotherapy. CASE SUMMARY: A 22-year-old female was diagnosed with psychogenic fever and suffered from fever, headache and transient visual impairment. She had a history of being hit on the head by a rolling gate 10 days prior to visiting our hospital...

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The treatment of frostbite injuries has undergone a radical change over the past decade with a shift from supportive therapy and observation towards early and aggressive medical intervention with thrombolytics and vasodilators. Institutions that have implemented evidence-based protocols have significantly decreased their amputation rates (Bruen et al., 2007; Lindford et al., 2017a; Twomey et al., 2005). We present the case of a middle-aged male treated for frostbite of multiple fingers on both hands. Because there was no treatment protocol at our institution, there were multiple delays in the patient's care including imaging and initiation of intravenous (IV) prostanoids...

BACKGROUND: Rapid rewarming of an acutely frostbitten extremity has been the standard treatment for nearly 60 years, however, there are no existing practical recommendations to create a warm water bath. Our study describes a novel approach to rapid rewarming using a sous vide cooking device to create and maintain a circulating warm water bath at a desired set temperature. METHODS: A series of in vitro experiments were performed to assess the efficacy of different methods of maintaining constant water temperature while rapidly rewarming a simulated frostbitten extremity (frozen pig's foot)...

INTRODUCTION: End stage heart failure is associated with high mortality. However, recent developments such as the ventricular assist device (VAD) have improved patient outcomes, with left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) most commonly implanted. OBJECTIVE: This narrative review evaluates LVAD epidemiology, indications, normal function and components, and the assessment and management of complications in the emergency department (ED). DISCUSSION: The LVAD is a life-saving device in patients with severe heart failure...

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BACKGROUND: Studies have shown the value of CT brain imaging in adults with first-time seizures, but there are no recommendations regarding emergent brain CTs in persons with an established seizure disorders. Our study aimed to derive a clinical decision instrument (CDI) to determine which patients with status epilepticus (SE) require emergent brain imaging. METHODS: This was a retrospective chart review of patients who presented to our emergency department with SE between 2010 and 2018...

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BACKGROUND: Sepsis is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in newborns. CD64 combined with c-reactive protein (CRP) could improve the sensitivity and specificity of neonatal sepsis diagnosis, but the results were still controversial. Therefore, this meta-analysis was conducted to clarify the importance of CD64 combined with CRP in the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. METHODS: The researches published as of December 24, 2018 were comprehensively searched in PubMed, Embase (included Embase and Medline), the Cochrane Library and Web of Science...

BACKGROUND: Inpatient hallway beds are one solution to mitigate emergency department (ED) crowding due to boarding of admitted patients. Alternative Care Areas (AltCA) beds are located in inpatient hallways, cardiac catheterization lab, and endoscopy. We examined whether AltCA beds were associated with increased risk of patient safety and quality outcomes: transfer to Intensive Care Unit (ICU), mortality, hospital-acquired infections (HAI), falls, and 72-hour hospital readmission. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of patients age >18 years admitted from the ED to non-ICU beds at an urban, academic hospital...

BACKGROUND: Pre-hospital triage with ECG-transmission may reduce time to reperfusion in patients with ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI). Less, however, is known on potential benefit of ECG-transmission triage in mountain areas, with complex orography. METHODS: Patients admitted for STEMI and primary coronary angioplasty (pPCI) in a mountain area served by a single cathlab and triaged with ECG-transmission were enrolled in the study and compared with controls: patients' demographics and time to coronary wire were recorded...

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of prehospital administration of tranexamic acid (TXA) to injured patients on mortality, thromboembolic events and need for blood transfusion in a level 1 trauma center. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study comparing adult trauma patients receiving or not receiving prehospital TXA between January 2017 and September 2018. Patients not receiving TXA but transfused within 4 h of admission were 1:1 matched to TXA-treated patients for age, sex, injury severity score, head abbreviated injury score, prehospital heart rate and systolic blood pressure...

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the association between adopting emergency department (ED) crowding interventions and emergency departments' core performance measures. METHODS: We analyzed the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) data from 2007 to 2015. The outcome variables are ED length of stay for discharged and admitted patients, boarding time, wait time and percentage of patients who left ED before being seen (LWBS). The independent variables are whether or not a hospital adopted each of the 20 crowding interventions...

INTRODUCTION: Patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) may suffer several complications after the acute event, including dysrhythmias and heart failure (HF). These complications place patients at risk for morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE: This narrative review evaluates literature and guideline recommendations relevant to the acute emergency department (ED) management of AMI complicated by dysrhythmia or HF, with a focus on evidence-based considerations for ED interventions...

Rapid estimates of the central venous pressure (CVP) can be helpful to administer early fluid therapy or to manage cardiac preload in intensive care units, operating rooms or emergency rooms in order to start and monitor an adequate medical therapy. Invasive CVP measurements have inherent and non-negligible complication rates as well as great expenditures. Several noninvasive methods of CVP measurements, like ultrasound-guided techniques, are available, but require trained skills and special equipment which might not be at hand in all situations...

BACKGROUND: Several clinical trials and literature reviews have been conducted to evaluate the impact of corticosteroids on the physiological markers and clinical outcomes of patients in septic shock. While the findings have been somewhat contradictory, there is evidence of moderate benefit from the administration of low-dose corticosteroids to patients in septic shock. In this review, we discuss recent studies evaluating the impact of corticosteroids on morbidity and mortality in septic shock and explore future directions to fully elucidate when and how the administration of corticosteroid therapies can be beneficial...

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