Role of point-of-care ultrasound study in early disposition of patients with undifferentiated acute dyspnea in emergency department: a multi-center prospective study.

INTRODUCTION: Sonography is a safe and simple diagnostic modality which can help emergency physicians in their clinical decision makings and improve the patient disposition process in emergency departments. OBJECTIVE: This prospective multi-center study evaluates the role of bedside ultrasound performed by emergency physicians in accelerating the patient disposition process in cases with acute undifferentiated dyspnea. METHODS: 103 patients were randomized to "early ultrasound" and "routine assessment" groups. In early ultrasound group, emergency physicians performed bedside ultrasound scans on heart and lungs as soon as possible after triage and randomization. In routine assessment group, ultrasound was used whenever the emergency physician or other consultant services ordered or performed it. Mean randomization-to-diagnosis time was compared in two studied groups. RESULTS: Mean randomization-to-diagnosis time was 79.33 (± 38.90) min in routine assessment and 42.61 (± 19.20) min in early ultrasound groups, showing a statistically significant difference (p value < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Using early sonography in assessing the patients with undifferentiated acute dyspnea in emergency department decreases the patient turnover time while increasing the diagnostic accuracy.

Effectiveness of an interprofessional education model based on the transtheoretical model of behaviour change to improve interprofessional collaboration.

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of an interprofessional education model (IPE) based on the transtheoretical model to improve the participants' interprofessional collaborative practice. The study was conducted in Iran using a controlled before-and-after study design. The participants (n = 91) were the residents of emergency medicine and nurses of the emergency units from two teaching hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences. The participants in the intervention group (n = 40) were 22 residents and 18 nurses. The control group (n = 51) consisted of 20 residents and 31 nurses. The participants were classified based on their stage of readiness to change. The interventions were two-day workshops for each stage (i.e., attitude and intention). We used the Interprofessional Collaborator Assessment Rubric (ICAR) to assess the effectiveness of the developed model. The interprofessional collaboration of the participants in the intervention and control groups was assessed at four time points before and after the intervention in the real emergency unit environment. Student's t-test and repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) were used to analyse the data. We used partial eta-squared (η2) for effect size calculations. The mean values of ICAR scores in the intervention and control groups were 95.63 ± 19.14 and 89.19 ± 16.11 before the intervention. The mean values of ICAR scores at 3 months after the intervention were 99.82 ± 22.32 and 88.29 ± 16.87 in the intervention and control groups, respectively. After 6 months, the mean values of ICAR scores of the intervention and control groups were 98.6 ± 23.40 and 87.98 ± 16.01, respectively. The results showed that the intervention had a medium educational effect size (partial η2 = 0.06) on performance of the participants. Our results showed that an IPE model that is tailored to the learners' stage of readiness to change improves interprofessional collaboration in the participants. The developed model could be applied for improving interprofessional collaborative performance in other IPE programmes.

Protocol Adherence in Prehospital Medical Care Provided for Patients with Chest Pain and Loss of Consciousness; a Brief Report.

INTRODUCTION: Although many protocols are available in the field of the prehospital medical care (PMC), there is still a notable gap between protocol based directions and applied clinical practice. This study measures the rate of protocol adherence in PMC provided for patients with chest pain and loss of consciousness (LOC). METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, 10 educated research assistants audited the situation of provided PMC for non-traumatic chest pain and LOC patients, presenting to the emergency department of a tertiary level teaching hospital, compare to national recommendations in these regards. RESULTS: 101 cases with the mean age of 56.7 ± 12.3 years (30-78) were audited (55.4% male). 61 (60.3%) patients had chest pain and 40 (39.7%) cases had LOC. Protocol adherence rates for cardiac monitoring (62.3%), O2 therapy (32.8%), nitroglycerin administration (60.7%), and aspirin administration (52.5%) in prehospital care of patients with chest pain were fair to poor. Protocol adherence rates for correct patient positioning (25%), O2 therapy (75%), cardiac monitoring (25%), pupils examination (25%), bedside glucometery (50%), and assessing for naloxone administration (55%) in prehospital care of patients with LOC were fair to poor. CONCLUSION: There were more than 20% protocol violation regarding prehospital care of chest pain patients regarding cardiac monitoring, O2 therapy, and nitroglycerin and aspirin administration. There were same situation regarding O2 therapy, positioning, cardiac monitoring, pupils examination, bedside glucometery, and assessing for naloxone administration of LOC patients in prehospital setting.

Comparison of oral oxycodone and naproxen in soft tissue injury pain control: a double-blind randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVES: This randomized clinical trial compares the efficacy and safety of oral oxycodone (an oral opioid) with naproxen (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) in acute pain control in patients with soft tissue injury. It also evaluates the need for additional doses of analgesics in the first 24 hours of discharge from emergency department (ED). METHODS: Adult (>18 years old) patients with soft tissue injuries were enrolled in a teaching urban ED. Subjects were randomly allocated to receive a single dose of oral oxycodone (5 mg) or oral naproxen (250 mg). Pain scores and drugs' adverse effects were assessed before, 30 minutes, and 60 minutes after medication. OUTCOME: efficacy in pain control (reduction in pain scale >2 points) and safety (rate of side effects). The need for additional pain medication after discharge was assessed by follow-up phone call 24 hours after discharge. RESULTS: A total of 150 patients were enrolled. Pain scores were similar in oxycodone vs naproxen groups before (6.21 ± 0.9 in vs 6.0 ± 1.0), 30 minutes (4.5 ± 1.4 vs 4.4 ± 1.2), and 60 minutes (2.5 ± 1.3 in vs 2.6 ± 1.3) after medication, respectively. Twelve (16.0%) patients in oral oxycodone group and 5 (6.6%) patients in naproxen group needed more analgesics in first 24 hours after ED discharge. Adverse effects were more common in oxycodone group (statistically significant difference). The most common adverse effects in oxycodone group were nausea, (13.3%); vomiting, (8.0%); dizziness, (5.3%); drowsiness, 3 (4.0%); and pruritis, (2.7%). CONCLUSION: Oral oxycodone is as effective as naproxen in soft tissue injury pain control but has a less favorable safety profile.

Diagnostic accuracy of emergency physician performed graded compression ultrasound study in acute appendicitis: a prospective study.

PURPOSE: Accurate early diagnosis of appendicitis can decrease its complications and minimize the mortality, morbidity and costs. This prospective study evaluates the accuracy of bedside emergency physician performed ultrasound study diagnosis in acute appendicitis. METHODS: Patients who were suspicious to have appendicitis based on their clinical findings were included and underwent emergency physician performed ultrasound study. Then they were followed up until the recognition of final diagnosis based on pathology report or identification of an alternative diagnosis. Ultrasound studies were done by post-graduate year three emergency medicine residents or emergency medicine attending physicians who were attended in a 4 h didactic and practical course and with 7.5 MHz linear probe both in longitudinal and axial axes. RESULTS: Ninety-seven patients were included and analyzed. 27 (27.8 %) of patients had appendicitis according to the results of emergency physicians performed ultrasound studies. 19 (70.37 %) of them had appendicitis according to their pathologic reports too. Forty-three (44.3 %) of patients had appendicitis according to pathology reports. Only 19 (44.18 %) of them were diagnosed by emergency physicians. Emergency physician performed ultrasound study had a sensitivity of 44.18 %, specificity of 85.18 %, positive predictive value of 70.37 %, negative predictive value of 65.71 % and overall accuracy of 67.01 % in diagnosing appendicitis in patients clinically suspicious to have acute appendicitis. CONCLUSION: Emergency physician performed bedside ultrasound has an acceptable overall accuracy but its sensitivity is low thus it can help emergency physicians to diagnose the acute appendicitis when used in conjunction with other clinical and para-clinical evaluations but not per se.

Accuracy of bedside emergency physician performed ultrasound in diagnosing different causes of acute abdominal pain: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: Abdominal pain is a common complaint in the emergency department and accurate diagnosis of its etiology may affect the patient's outcome. METHOD: Patients with abdominal pain underwent ultrasound study first by trained emergency physicians and then by radiologists blinded to emergency physician's results. RESULT: Emergency physician who performed bedside ultrasound had 78% diagnostic accuracy. Emergency physicians showed better results in diagnosing some entities (abdominal aortic aneurysm and renal stones) than the others (acute appendicitis, cholelithiasis, and cholecystitis). CONCLUSION: Bedside ultrasound can accurately identify the etiology of acute nontraumatic abdominal pain in the hands of emergency physicians.

Risk factors of delayed pre-hospital treatment seeking in patients with acute coronary syndrome: A prospective study.

OBJECTIVES: Despite enormous efforts in public education, treatment seeking time still remains more than optimal in patients with acute coronary syndrome. This prospective study tries to determine the risk factors of pre-hospital delay in patients with acute coronary syndrome. METHODS: Descriptive data of 190 patients with diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome attending in 2 tertiary level teaching hospital emergency departments were analyzed to determine risk factors of delayed pre-hospital treatment seeking. Demographic, social and clinical characteristics of patients were obtained and they were asked to fully describe their symptoms and the actions they had done after their symptoms onset. RESULTS: Thirty nine (20.52%) of patients were arrived in emergency department in <1 h of their symptoms onset, 73 (38.43%) were arrived between 1 and 6 h and 78 (41.05%) were arrived in >6 h. Sex, route of transport, scene-to-hospital distance, attributing the symptoms to non-cardiac causes and outpatient physician consultation and cigarette smoking were the risk factors of delayed treatment seeking in our studied patients with acute coronary syndrome. Patients with previous history of ischemic heart disease and Coronary Care Unit admission and patients with underlying diseases like diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipidemia showed a trend to have more delayed treatment seeking behavior but not with a statistically significant difference. Patients with positive family history of acute coronary syndrome arrived in emergency department earlier than other patients but again with not a statistically significant difference. CONCLUSION: Most patients with acute coronary syndrome arrived in emergency department in >6 h of their symptoms onset. Sex, route of transport, scene-to-hospital distance, attributing the symptoms to non-cardiac origins, outpatient physician consultation and cigarette smoking were risk factors of delayed treatment seeking in studied patients.

Ultrasound-guided hematoma block in distal radial fracture reduction: a randomised clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: We compared the efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided haematoma block with that of procedural sedation and analgesia in patients with acute distal radial fracture reduction pain control. METHODS: This was a randomised clinical trial on adult patients conducted in two teaching hospitals. Patients received intravenous midazolam plus fentanyl in the procedural sedation and analgesia group, and fracture site injection of lidocaine 10% in the ultrasound guided haematoma block group. We measured pain scores before reduction, during reduction and 5, 10 and 15 min after reduction by a numeric rating scale, and patient and physician satisfaction by a four-level Likert scale. Time to discharge, early adverse effects and late complications were also compared. RESULTS: We enrolled 160 patients with distal radial fracture and randomised 143 patients into two groups (after excluding 17 patients). Pain was effectively controlled in both groups. Pain scores had no statistically significant difference before and during reduction and 5 and 15 min after reduction in the procedural sedation and analgesia and ultrasound guided haematoma block groups. Patient and physician overall satisfaction were similar in the two groups. Time to discharge was significantly lower in the ultrasound guided haematoma block group. Four patients (5.5%) in the procedural sedation and analgesia group showed early adverse effects. No patient in either group showed any late complications. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound guided haematoma block may be a safe and effective alternative to procedural sedation and analgesia. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: 201112308104N5.

Oral oxycodone plus intravenous acetaminophen versus intravenous morphine sulfate in acute bone fracture pain control: a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVES: Bone fracture is a common cause of acute pain in emergency and orthopedics departments. Targeting the multifaceted mechanisms of pain with combinations of multiple analgesics (multimodal analgesia) can increase the pain control efforts efficacy and decrease the adverse effects of each medication. METHODS: One hundred and fifty-three patients with acute bone fracture were randomly allocated to two groups receiving intravenous morphine sulfate (74 patients) or oral oxycodone plus intravenous acetaminophen (79 patients). Pain scores and drugs' adverse effects were assessed 10, 30 and 60 min after treatment. RESULTS: Pain scores were similar between groups before, 30 and 60 min after medication but patients in morphine sulfate group experienced less pain 10 min after medication. Eight (10.8%) patients in morphine sulfate group and 26 (32.9%) patients in acetaminophen/oxycodone group experienced nausea that was statistically significant higher (P value = 0.001). Itching was seen in 12 (15.1%) patients of acetaminophen/oxycodone group and three (4.0%) patients of patients in morphine sulfate group (P value = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Intravenous acetaminophen plus oral oxycodone is as effective as intravenous morphine sulfate in acute pain control in emergency department but with a less desirable safety profile.

Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonographic examination in the management of shoulder dislocation in the emergency department.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Emergency physicians frequently encounter shoulder dislocation in their practice. The objective of this study is to assess the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography in detecting shoulder dislocation and confirming proper reduction in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with possible shoulder dislocation. We hypothesize that ultrasonography could be a reliable alternative for pre- and postradiographic evaluation of shoulder dislocation. METHODS: This was a prospective observational study. A convenience sample of patients suspected of having shoulder dislocation was enrolled in the study. Ultrasonography was performed before and after reduction procedure with a 7.5- to 10-MHz linear transducer. Shoulder dislocation was confirmed by taking radiographs in 3 routine views as a criterion standard. The operating characteristics of ultrasonography to detect dislocation in patients with possible shoulder dislocation and to confirm reduction in patients with definitive dislocation were calculated as the primary endpoints. RESULTS: Seventy-three patients were enrolled. The ultrasonography did not miss any dislocation. The results of ultrasonography and radiography were identical and the sensitivity of ultrasonography in detection of shoulder dislocation was 100% (95% confidence interval 93.4% to 100%). The sensitivity of ultrasonography for assessment of complete reduction of the shoulder joint reached 100% (95% confidence interval 93.2% to 100%) in our study as well. CONCLUSION: We suggest that ultrasonography be performed in all patients who present to the ED with a clinical impression of shoulder dislocation on admission time. The results of this study provide promising preliminary support for the ability of ultrasonography to detect shoulder dislocation. However, further investigation is necessary to validate the results and assess the ability of ultrasonography in detecting fractures associated with dislocation.

Effects of brain contusion on mild traumatic brain-injured patients.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important health issue with high prevalence. The most common type of TBI is mild TBI (MTBI). MTBI is known as a condition with self-limited symptoms; however, it could cause some structural abnormalities of brain and become complicated. Visible structural brain damage could have an important effect on recovery after MTBI, but the outcome is not fully understood. This study investigated the clinical course of MTBI patients with the existence of contusion in computed tomography (CT) imaging. Fifty patients with MTBI and simultaneous brain contusion in CT scan were enrolled according to specific exclusion criteria in 14 month. Patients were followed up for two weeks after their first arrival for neurosurgical interventions, decreased level of consciousness, and other neurological complications. Presence of neurological symptoms increased duration of hospital stay and number of CT scans. Forty-two percent of MTBI patients with contusion did not have any objective neurological signs. Fifty percent returned to the hospital with neurologic symptoms and signs. Leading causes were headache followed by seizure and dizziness. Rehospitalization was increased in the patients with altered level of consciousness. The size of brain contusion increased in two patients without further need for neurosurgical intervention. Contusion alone did not worsen the prognosis of patients in short-term follow-up and did not cause neurosurgical interventions.

Operating characteristics of a qualitative troponin assay for the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome.

The troponin I serum level is widely used in acute coronary syndrome patients for their classification. The qualitative assay is faster and more available than the quantitative assay. The objective was to determine the operating characteristics of a qualitative troponin I assay compared with a quantitative method. This is a prospective observational study and patients suspected to have acute coronary syndrome were enrolled. A rapid troponin I test and a quantitative assay were carried out for each patient on arrival and 6 h after admission. A total of 262 patients were enrolled. The degree of agreement between the second rapid qualitative and quantitative troponin I was excellent (κ=0.946; 95% confidence interval, 0.903-0.989). The sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value of the rapid qualitative troponin I test were 92.6, 100, 96.8, and 100%, respectively. In conclusion, this study reveals an excellent agreement between quantitative and qualitative bedside assays 6 h after admission in a sample of Iranian patients in the emergency department.

Comparison of diagnostic value of conventional ultrasonography by emergency physicians with Doppler ultrasonography by radiology physicians for diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis.

OBJECTIVES: To determine sensitivity, specificity and other operating characteristics of bedside three-point compression ultrasonography performed in emergency department by emergency physicians in comparison with duplex ultrasonography. METHODS: The cross-sectional study at Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital in Tehran, Iran, prospectively evaluated 81 suspected patients of lower extremity deep vein thrombosis between March 2006 and March 2007. A trained second-year resident and one attending physician of emergency medicine evaluated the veins of all the patients with through compression ultrasonography. Then, a second-year resident of radiology assessed the patients with duplex ultrasonography. Finally, data were compared and quantitative and categorical variables were worked out along with other statistical analysis through SPSS version 16. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 47.2 +/- 18.6 years. When cases who lost the compressibility of at least one of their femoral or popliteal veins were considered to be positive, there were 80.2% diagnosed by compression ultrasonography and 79% by the duplex variety. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the former in comparison with the latter were 85.9%, 41.2% and 84.6% respectively. CONCLUSION: Compression ultrasonography has relatively an acceptable sensitivity and accuracy level, but has low specificity in the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis in the hands of Iranian emergency physicians. It is better to implement duplex ultrasonography whenever accessible. Otherwise, compression ultrasonography results should be compared with the results of duplex ultrasonography as soon as possible.