Patient-controlled analgesia for the management of adults with acute trauma in the emergency department: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) has potential as a form of analgesia for trauma patients in the emergency department (ED). The objective of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of PCA for the management of adults with acute traumatic pain in the ED. The hypothesis was that PCA can effectively treat acute trauma pain in adults in the ED, with minimal adverse outcomes and better patient satisfaction compared with non-PCA modalities. METHODS: MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, SCOPUS, ClinicalTrials.gov , and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) databases were searched from inception date to December 13, 2022. Randomized controlled trials involving adults presenting to the ED with acute traumatic pain who received intravenous (IV) analgesia via PCA compared with other modalities were included. The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach were used to assess the quality of included studies. RESULTS: A total of 1,368 publications were screened, with 3 studies involving 382 patients meeting the eligibility criteria. All three studies compared PCA IV morphine with clinician-titrated IV morphine boluses. For the primary outcome of pain relief, the pooled estimate was in favor of PCA with a standard mean difference of -0.36 (95% confidence interval, -0.87 to 0.16). There were mixed results concerning patient satisfaction. Adverse event rates were low overall. The evidence from all three studies was graded as low-quality because of a high risk of bias from lack of blinding. CONCLUSION: This study did not demonstrate a significant improvement in pain relief or patient satisfaction using PCA for trauma in the ED. Clinicians wishing to use PCA to treat acute trauma pain in adult patients in the ED are advised to consider the available resources in their own practice settings and to implement protocols for monitoring and responding to potential adverse events. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Systematic Review/Meta-Analyses; Level III.

Give Intravenous Bolus Overdose a Brake: User Experience and Perception of Safety Device.

OBJECTIVES: Drugs can come in concentrated solutions that require dilution before intravenous bolus administration. Upon dilution, the syringe can contain more than the required amount of drug. The user may mistakenly administer the full contents of the syringe, resulting in an overdose. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated user experience and perception of Syringe Brake, a dosage flow restrictor device, as part of the intravenous morphine bolus administration workflow. METHODS: From December 2018 to January 2019, doctors and nurses working in the emergency department of 3 public tertiary hospitals in Singapore were invited to complete a paper-based 11-item 5-point Likert scale survey questionnaire after 3 months of Syringe Brake implementation. RESULTS: Overall, 77.5% (290/374; 4.11 ± 0.83) of participants were satisfied with the use of Syringe Brake to prevent medication error. Our survey results showed that the top features of Syringe Brake were ease of setting the desired volume to be administered (86.1%; 4.21 ± 0.72), allowing the drug to be titrated safely (84.8%; 4.26 ± 0.77), and giving users the confidence to avoid overdosing the patient (82.1%; 4.21 ± 0.78). Those with hands-on experience with Syringe Brake rated significantly higher for all survey statements except on the perceived ability to prevent error arising from miscommunication (adjusted odds ratio, 1.58 [0.98-2.57]; P = 0.062). CONCLUSIONS: Syringe Brake shows promising potential for adoption to prevent medication errors. The device serves as a constraint to prevent accidental overdose, caused by user unfamiliarity or autopilot administration.

Retained Foreign Body Causing a Liver Abscess.

INTRODUCTION: A liver abscess caused by fishbone ingestion is extremely rare in the Emergency Department. CASE REPORT: We report a case of a middle-aged female who presented to the Emergency Department with nonspecific symptoms. Computed tomography showed a liver abscess that had formed secondary to a fishbone. The patient was treated conservatively initially and subsequently with percutaneous drainage and finally with open drainage. Her condition improved and she was discharged from the hospital with the foreign body still in-situ. CONCLUSION: This case is one of six cases in literature where the patient has been discharged successfully from the hospital with a retained fishbone. It also demonstrates the difficulty of diagnosing a foreign body causing a liver abscess and the multiple treatment modalities used to treat a liver abscess caused by fishbone.