Active clinical trials for "Emergencies"

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are highly prevalent among adolescents. Despite established principles for STI control, clinical practices related to screening and diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of STIs among adolescents are suboptimal. There is an urgent need to expand our screening programs to nontraditional healthcare settings such as emergency departments (ED) to reach those adolescents who would otherwise not receive preventive healthcare, and to determine the most efficient and cost-effective method for providing this screening. The goal of this study is to leverage our recent insights obtained from single center ED-based adolescent gonorrhea and chlamydia screening research and apply them across a national pediatric ED research network to determine the most clinically effective and cost-effective screening approach for adolescents when implemented into a real-world clinical setting through a pragmatic trial. This will be accomplished through a network of children's hospital EDs with a track record of robust research collaboration (Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network or PECARN). This intervention will rely on an innovative approach that electronically integrates patient-reported data to guide clinical decision support. The investigators will apply human factors modeling methods to perform ED workflow evaluations at each participating pediatric ED to determine the most efficient way to integrate the screening process into everyday clinical care. Following these analyses, the investigators will conduct a comparative effectiveness pragmatic trial of targeted STI screening (screening only those disclosing high risk sexual behavior) versus universally-offered STI screening (offered to all, regardless of risk) through electronic integration of patient reported data for provision of clinical decision support. The investigators will then develop decision analytic models to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of targeted screening compared to universally offered screening.

In this pilot study, we will investigate whether - with the current dosing regimens, used in the Ghent University Hospital - pharmacodynamic targets regarding beta-lactam antibiotics (more specific Amoxicilline-Clavulanate, Piperacillin-Tazobactam and Temocillin) are attained in frail patients admitted to the geriatric department.

This study is an observational, prospective study examining the role point-of-care echocardiography of predicting short term adverse outcomes in emergency department patients with acute pulmonary embolism. The primary objective is to assess the diagnostic performance of ultrasound-guided measures of right ventricular dilation (RVD) and strain in predicting clinical outcomes in acute PE. The secondary objective is to investigate the utility of combining ultrasound-guided measures of RVD and the pulmonary embolism severity index (PESI) score in predicting adverse outcomes in acute PE.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergency reception services had to be radically reorganized. In this tense environment, professionals must face ethical dilemmas, make referral decisions and prioritize patients. Due to the limited number of visits to many hospitals, interactions with relatives and families of patients are mainly conducted by phone. These limitations will continue as long as the context of uncertainty over the course of the pandemic persists. Limitation or discontinuation of treatment (LDT) announcements were therefore also impacted and the exceptional situation related to COVID-19 reinforces the difficulties encountered by professionals in usual time (place of announcement, inappropriate lack of time, etc.). Thus, LDTs are most often done over the phone without the families being able to go to the hospital. Because of this, these announcements can be more traumatic. Investigators have already highlighted in a recent study the lack of communication between caregivers and families in the context of LDT announcements and the context of COVID 19 exacerbated these aspects given the limitations of visits. The investigators therefore propose to study the experiences of families who are notified of a decision to limit or stop treatment by phone in the emergency room during the COVID-19 crisis.

In the context of postoperative hypertension in the intensive care units, or after resusitation of hypertensive patients, intravenous antihypertensive drugs are often used. Among those drugs, Nicardipine is an effective drug, but with side effects such as inhibition of pulmonary vasoconstriction. Only preclinical studies have investigated the pathophysiology of this mechanism, and no clinical study have proven its clinical relevance. The aim of this study is to establish the incidence of Nicardipine induced hypoxemia and to compare it to another antihypertensive agent, Urapidil.

BACKGROUND: Anaphylaxis is the most severe form of allergy that rapidly affects multiple body systems and can be deadly. The highest incidence of anaphylaxis is in children and adolescents. In Canada, approximately every 10 minutes there is an Emergency Department (ED) visit for food allergy, and up to 80% of anaphylactic reactions in children are triggered by food. The ambiguity in how physicians manage anaphylaxis adds a huge burden to health care and further contributes to ED crowding. Current Canadian and international treatment guidelines universally recommend that all patients present to the ED for a prolonged period (6-24 hours) of in-hospital monitoring after initial reactions have been treated, to increase detection of biphasic anaphylaxis (BA). BA is a second wave of symptoms after initial resolution. These guidelines are based on poor or little evidence and have unintended negative impacts on patient safety and quality of life. Furthermore, this 'one-size fits all' approach to care leads to wasteful resource utilization that provides low value care. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of the study is to derive a clinical prediction rule that identifies children with anaphylaxis who are at risk of BA. METHODS: This prospective multicenter cohort study will enroll 1682 patients from 7 pediatric EDs that are members of the Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC) network. We will enroll patients < 18 years of age presenting to the ED with an allergic reaction that matches the diagnostic criteria of anaphylaxis. Research assistants (RA) present in the ED will screen, obtain consent, and prospectively collect all study data. The Research Assistant or Research Nurse will follow patients during their ED visit and ascertain, in conjunction with the medical team, if the patient developed biphasic anaphylaxis in the ED. A standardized follow-up survey conducted within 2-5 days of ED or hospital discharge will determine if a biphasic reaction occurred following ED disposition. We established an advisory council comprised of end-users and community partners external to the project team to monitor project milestones. STUDY TEAM: We have established an international multidisciplinary team of experts in pediatrics, emergency medicine, allergy/immunology, research methodology and statistics, and knowledge translation. Our team is supported by the PERC network. EXPECTED OUTCOME: Providing the best evidence-based, value care at the lowest cost is a moral and ethical imperative. Therefore, in alignment with national and international research priorities, we propose to develop a robust prediction model for BA. This model will address a significant gap in current knowledge and practice, with anticipated benefit for patient care and health system efficiency worldwide. This trial will generate novel, clinically relevant data on optimal ED management of children with anaphylaxis that integrates best value care with patient safety.

Errors during a stressful pediatric critical situation occur more frequently than thought. The main aim of the study is to quantify the number and the type of errors made by pediatric paramedical teams during the management of vital emergencies (medication dosage calculation, compliance with algorithms for management of cardiac arrest…). Then, simulations with and without the EasyPédia software will be compared during a high-fidelity simulation of a standardized pediatric cardiac arrest scenario in order to evaluate its impact on reducing errors during the management of a resuscitation. This study will be a single-center and observational trial in the pediatric intensive care unit of the Besançon University Hospital.

Sickle cell crisis continues to be a frequent presentation to emergency departments. Patients presenting will often require immediate treatment for their pain and often times this will include opioids. The opioid epidemic has cost thousands of lives; and continues to be a significant problem posing several challenges when treating patients presenting with sickle cell disease. Primarily, opioids remain the mainstay of treatment for these patients and the push to address the opioid crisis may present challenges for adequate opioid administration in patients suffering from a sickle cell crisis while hospitals find ways to curb the opioid crisis overall. Opioid treatment for patients in acute vaso-occlusive crisis has significantly contributed to quality of life and life expectancy of patients with this diagnosis. Measures should continue to attempt to administer a multi-model approach to sickle cell patients to minimize the morphine milligram equivalents in these patients while also successfully addressing the patient's pain. IV lidocaine is a pain medication that has been evaluated in several painful experiences, such as in renal colic. A few case reports have shown IV lidocaine use in sickle cell can be a potential effective adjunct medication to opioids to treat pain and reduce further opioid requirements. Currently, no prospective controlled trial exists to evaluate the true benefit of IV lidocaine in this population. Our study aims to evaluate IV lidocaine as an adjunct to opioid treatment in the emergency department to determine if improved pain is achieved and if there is a reduction in overall morphine milligram equivalents throughout the emergency department visit.

The State of Wisconsin is now expanding its investment in care coordination models as an effort to reduce inappropriate hospital emergency department (ED) use, improve health outcomes, and reduce Medicaid expenditures. This effort begins with a pilot program to support emergency department care coordination in hospitals and health systems that apply and are selected to participate in the pilot program. The Wisconsin Medicaid program seeks to understand whether this program achieves its intended goals and, specifically, whether the Medicaid payment for such care coordination services produces the intended program outcomes. Hospitals will select members that will receive care coordination services. In a quasi-experimental approach, the study team will compare members that do vs. do not receive the services will be used examine the effects of care coordination and referrals on total ED visits, primary-care treatable ED visits, non-emergent ED visits, and health care costs, as well as the specific effects of referring patients to providers who offer low-cost and after-hours care. To assess the importance of targeting, study team will conduct stratified analyses of vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities and individuals with specific clinical needs.

244 patients, who have an emergency midline laparotomy for any gastrointestinal reason, will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio either to mesh group with a retrorectus prophylactic self-gripping mesh or to control group with 4:1 small stitch closure by continuous monofilament suture. They will be followed up at 30 days, 2 and 5 years to detect the incidence of incisional hernia.