Remote Interrogation in Rural Emergency Departments
Heart DiseaseCardiovascular Disease3 moreA retrospective, multi-center, proof-of-concept study to evaluate the use of remote monitoring in rural emergency departments to decrease time to treatment decision for pacemaker and defibrillator patients using the St Jude Medical Merlin@home transmitter. The purpose of the study is to determine if utilization of remote monitoring technology in a rural emergency department may improve patient care. Up to 10 rural ED sites will enroll a total of 200 patients. One hundred patients will be in the remote monitoring group comprised of patients with SJM devices compatible with the unpaired transmitter and 100 patients will be in the usual medical care group comprised of patients with SJM devices that are not compatible with the unpaired transmitter or that have a competitor's device.
Predictability of the Ability to Perform an Emergency Stop After Surgery for Inguinal Hernia
Inguinal HerniaSeveral studies exist on patient performance in drive simulators especially around and after surgery. Recommendations concerning the ability to drive after inguinal hernia are scarce and so far do not offer conclusive results. Aim of the study is to analyse reaction time and foot transfer time (together brake response time) and brake force in a brake simulator before and after scheduled inguinal hernia surgery (Liechtenstein procedure).
Positive and Quantitative Diagnosis of Pleural Effusions by Thoracic Ultrasonography in Patients...
Pleural EffusionUltrasonography3 moreAcute respiratory failure (ARF) is a frequent reason for consulting in the Emergency Department (ED) and one of the major clinical problems prompting admission in intensive care unit. In the ED, evaluation of an ARF is mainly based on clinical examination and frontal chest x-ray performed to the patient bedside. This practice has a limited diagnostic capacity due to a lack of specificity of clinical and radiological semiology, especially in the polypathological patient. Thoracic ultrasonography provides morphological information regrouped as a syndrome (interstitial syndrome, alveolar condensation, pneumothorax) and allows the identification of pleural effusions (PE). The PE diagnosis is easy, quick, and relies on two-dimensional ultrasound imaging. Compared to CT scan, which remains the reference examination although ill-suited in the context of emergency, thoracic ultrasonography has a sensitivity and specificity greater than 90% for pleural liquid (PL) diagnosis. In addition, thoracic ultrasonography is used to assess the volume of PL, determine its nature and guide the pleural puncture with higher performance than chest x-ray. The semi-quantitative evaluation of PEs has been validated in patients with mechanical ventilation hospitalized in intensive care unit. On the other hand, few data on the prevalence and quantification of PL for hospitalized patients in ED for an ARF are currently available. Thus, the objective of this study is to evaluate the prevalence and severity of the PL identified by thoracic ultrasonography in patients admitted to the ED for an ARF by emergency physicians with ultrasound skills recommended by the French Society of Emergency Medicine.
Diagnostic Performance of Echocardiography Performed by Emergency Physicians After a Basic Training...
Circulatory FailureEchocardiographyAfter a basic training to echocardiography, emergency physicians will have to answer simple clinical questions about circulatory failure mechanisms. The objective of the study is to assess the agreement between these answers and those of the expert physician in patients admitted in the emergency department with a circulatory failure due to sepsis or not. Emergency physicians will volunteer to take part in a basic training on echocardiography. The training will include 4 hours of theory, 2 hours of interactive clinical cases and 6 hours of tutored practice at patients' bedside (10 to 15 examinations). The objective of the practice sessions will be to learn the technical grounds of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), the different views and to identify the anatomical structures. The second part of the study will start after the training. Each eligible patient will be successively assessed by two investigators: one emergency physician recently trained and the expert physician. The echocardiography will be performed as soon as possible in the emergency department before or after the initiation of treatment without delaying it. The order of hemodynamic assessments will be random depending on the availability of the investigators; both assessments will however be performed within 30 minutes. Each investigator will independently read the echocardiography in real time at patients' bedside. They will then answer a limited list of standardized questions using two-choice answers or predefined choices. Finally investigators will choose a therapeutic proposition among a predefined list based on the answers. Only the results of the echocardiography performed by the expert physician will be used in patient management.
Sepsis Assessment in Belgian Emergency Rooms
SepsisShock2 moreTo validate the use of the Heparin Binding Protein (HBP) concentration to assist in the evaluation of patients admitting to the emergency department with suspected infection.
Emergency Department MCG for Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome
Acute Coronary SyndromeThe goal of this study is to assess a new non-invasive computerized, multiphase, resting electrocardiogram analysis device in early identification of patients at risk for acute coronary syndrome. The overall objective is to assess the association between the results from a resting MCG and 30-day cardiovascular outcome in patients presenting to the emergency department with suspected coronary disease.
Salbutamol in the Pediatric Emergencies: Nebulization Estimated Via AerogeN or Jet
AsthmaControlled trial of nebulized salbutamol using jet nebulizer or vibrating mesh technology in children presenting with acute moderate to severe asthma.
Impact of an Allied Health Team in the Emergency Department on Older Adults' Care
ED-based Allied Health ServicesThe study aims to examine the impact of implementing a dedicated team of Health and Social Care Professionals (HSCPs) in the emergency department (ED) of a large Irish hospital on the quality, safety and cost-effectiveness of care for older adults (aged ≥65). Early assessment and intervention provided by the HSCP team will be compared to routine ED care to explore potential benefits related to key ED outcomes, including length of stay as well as hospital admissions and patient satisfaction/quality of life. This study is part of an ongoing interdisciplinary project funded by the Health Research Board of Ireland through the Research Collaborative on Quality and Patient Safety (RCQPS) Grant Call 2017. The project is led by Dr Rose Galvin, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at the University of Limerick (UL, Ireland), and overseen by an interdisciplinary steering group of expert researchers and clinicians in Emergency Medicine and Allied Health.
Nurse Led Ultrasound Guided Femoral Nerve Block in the Emergency Department
Hip FracturesAnesthesia1 moreThe aim of this study is to investigate the effects of task shifting from anesthesiologists to special trained nurses performing femoral nerve block (FNB) in patients with hip fracture in the emergency department (ED) at Vestfold Hospital Trust (VHT). A sample of nurses (n= 6) will perform ultrasound guided FNB in hip fracture patients (n=25) admitted to the ED at VHT. This cohort will be compared to another cohort of hip fracture patients (n=25). This cohort will follow standard of care where the femoral nerve block is often performed by anesthesiologists. The study is a prospective, controlled randomized trial.
Emergency Department Triage in a Resource Constrained Setting: Application of the World Health Organization...
EmergenciesTriage is an important component of emergency care (EC). It aims to sort patients based on the urgency of their condition such that the highest acuity patients are prioritised for assessment and treatment. Grounded in the ethical principles of equity and justice, triage is necessary whenever there is a mismatch between demand for EC and the availability of resources. Globally, a large number of triage scales are in use. These differ in the data required to categorise patients as well as the number of tiers. Developed settings tend to utilise five-tier systems. Little is known about the prevalence of triage in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including in the Pacific region. There is also limited evidence about the utility, validity and reliability of triage scales in these contexts. While a landmark study in a paediatric Emergency Department (ED) in Malawi demonstrated that training staff in emergency skills, introducing triage and improving flow substantially reduced case fatality rates, the mortality reduction attributable to triage is unknown. A small number of triage scales have been developed for resource-limited (RL) environments. The most widely studied is the four-tier South African Triage Scale (SATS), which has demonstrated reasonable reliability and validity. In the Pacific region, SATS has provided a foundation for the three-tier Solomon Islands Triage Scale (SITS), which has recently been piloted in Honiara. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also recently released a three-tier triage scale. Neither of these instruments has been validated. Although the potential value of triage systems in resource-limited EDs is increasingly recognised, the current evidence base is limited. The impact on process indicators (eg, time to assessment) and clinical outcomes (eg, mortality) for time-critical conditions is largely unknown. This study aims to address this knowledge gap.