Emergency Medicine Commons^™

Emergency Department Repair Of Blunt Right Atrial Rupture Utilizing Cardiopulmonary Bypass, Samuel P. Carmichael, Michael C. Bounds, Alexis E. Shafii, Phillip K. Chang

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Blunt cardiac injury (BCI) with free wall rupture carries a high risk of pre-hospital death. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) has been utilized as a bridge to repair of cardiac lesions in select patients. We present an interesting case of emergency department repair of right atrial rupture with cardiopulmonary bypass.

High Burden Of Subclinical Lead Toxicity After Phase Out Of Lead From Petroleum In Pakistan, Hafsa Majid, Aysha Habib Khan, Nadeem Ullah Khan, Imran Siddiqui, Farooq Ghani, Lena Jafri

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Objective: To evaluate the frequency of subclinical lead toxicity.
Study design: Cross-sectional study.
Place and duration of study: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from January 2011 to December 2014.
Methodology: Analysis of laboratory data for blood lead levels (BLL) was performed. Lead was tested by atomic absorption spectrometer. For all subjects, only initial test results were included while the results of repeated testing were excluded. Exemption was sought from institutional ethical review committee. BLL of 2-10 ug/dl and 10-70 ug/dl in children and adults, respectively were taken as subclinical lead toxicity.
Result: Amongst …

High Burden Of Subclinical Lead Toxicity After Phase Out Of Lead From Petroleum In Pakistan, Hafsa Majid, Aysha Habib Khan, Nadeem Ullah Khan, Imran Siddiqui, Farooq Ghani, Lena Jafri

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Objective: To evaluate the frequency of subclinical lead toxicity.
Study design: Cross-sectional study.
Place and duration of study: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from January 2011 to December 2014.
Methodology: Analysis of laboratory data for blood lead levels (BLL) was performed. Lead was tested by atomic absorption spectrometer. For all subjects, only initial test results were included while the results of repeated testing were excluded. Exemption was sought from institutional ethical review committee. BLL of 2-10 ug/dl and 10-70 ug/dl in children and adults, respectively were taken as subclinical lead toxicity.
Results: Amongst …

Comparison Of Outcomes Of Antibiotic Drugs And Appendectomy (Coda) Trial: A Protocol For The Pragmatic Randomised Study Of Appendicitis Treatment., Giana H Davidson, David R Flum, David A Talan, Larry G Kessler, Danielle C Lavallee, Bonnie J Bizzell, Farhood Farjah, Skye D Stewart, Anusha Krishnadasan, Erin E Carney, Erika M Wolff, Bryan A Comstock, Sarah E Monsell, Patrick J Heagerty, Annie P Ehlers, Daniel A Deugarte, Amy H Kaji, Heather L Evans, Julianna T Yu, Katherine Mandell, Ian C Doten, Kevin S Clive, Karen M Mcgrane, Brandon C Tudor, Careen S Foster, Darin J Saltzman, Richard C Thirlby, Erin O Lange, Amber K Sabbatini, Gregory J Moran

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

INTRODUCTION: Several European studies suggest that some patients with appendicitis can be treated safely with antibiotics. A portion of patients eventually undergo appendectomy within a year, with 10%-15% failing to respond in the initial period and a similar additional proportion with suspected recurrent episodes requiring appendectomy. Nearly all patients with appendicitis in the USA are still treated with surgery. A rigorous comparative effectiveness trial in the USA that is sufficiently large and pragmatic to incorporate usual variations in care and measures the patient experience is needed to determine whether antibiotics are as good as appendectomy.

OBJECTIVES: The Comparing Outcomes of …

Turning A Blind Eye: How Lack Of Communication With Er Nurses Nearly Cost A Patient Permanent Vision Loss, Kenneth Royal, April Kedrowicz

Patient Experience Journal

This narrative presents a case in which a patient was treated for conjunctivitis, but a breakdown in several layers of communication (between the hospital and the patient, and between hospital personnel) resulted in multiple medical errors that nearly costs the patient permanent vision loss. This real-life case underscores how simple communication errors may lead to life-altering consequences. Recommendations for improving communication to ensure similar errors do not happen to others are provided.

Decreasing Time To Broad Spectrum Antibiotics For Septic Patients In The Emergency Department, Joseph J. Zieminski, Emily E. Bryant

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Background: Timely administration of broad spectrum antibiotics has been shown to be directly correlated with decreased mortality for patients with severe sepsis and septic shock. As such, both the Surviving Sepsis Campaign and the SEP-1 CMS measure recognize timely antibiotic administration as a cornerstone of therapy for patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.

Purpose: Decrease time to broad spectrum antibiotic administration for septic patients in the emergency department (ED) of Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center.

Methods: An alert within the electronic medical record was created to more rapidly identify potentially septic patients in the ED. After receiving the alert, …

Medical Response Times And Their Effect On Prehospital Care, Storm Santos

Scholars Week

Medical Response Times and Their Effect on Prehospital Care

Storm J. Santos, Rural Health Scholar

Dr. Naber, Faculty Advisor

Department of Health Sciences

Abstract

Medical emergencies happen in a variety of different environments. Each environment comes with unique challenges that emergency medical responders must work through to safely alleviate any given medical emergency. This study examines the effect of medical team response times on the overall care of the patient as well as if population density (rural vs urban) further affects the overall care of the patient. This study was inspired by works that compared various environmental factors and their …

Methanol Poisoning: 27 Years Experience At A Tertiary Care Hospital, Fareed Ahmed, Nadeem Ullah Khan, Noman Ali, Asher Feroze

Department of Emergency Medicine

Methanol toxicity can result in serious morbidity and mortality without timely diagnosis and treatment. Many cases of methanol poisoning outbreaks have been noted in our population but no study has been performed to estimate methanol exposure and its outcomes and complications. A retrospective study was conducted to review all the cases of methanol poisoning admitted from January 1988 to December 2015 at the Aga Khan University Hospital. A total of 35 methanol poisoning cases were reported. All the patients were male, and the mean age was 36.2±8.6 years. The mean Glasgow Coma Scale score on presentation in the emergency was …

Endothelial Cell-Derived Microparticles From Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea Hypoxia Syndrome And Coronary Artery Disease Increase Aortic Endothelial Cell Dysfunction., Lixin Jia, Jingyao Fan, Wei Cui, Sa Liu, Na Li, Wayne Bond Lau, Xin-Liang Ma, Jie Du, Shaoping Nie, Yongxiang Wei

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Obstructive sleep apnea hypoxia syndrome (OSAHS) is an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). Treatment of OSAHS improves clinical outcome in some CAD patients, but the relationship between OSAHS and CAD is complex. Microparticles (MPs) are shed by the plasma membrane by either physiologic or pathologic stimulation. In the current study, we investigated the role of MPs in the context of OSAHS.

METHODS AND RESULTS: 54 patients with both suspected coronary artery stenosis and OSAHS were recruited and underwent both coronary arteriography and polysomnography. Circulating MPs were isolated and analyzed by flow cytometry. CAD+OSAHS patients exhibited greater …

The Effects Of Obesity On Outcomes In Trauma Injury: Overview Of The Current Literature, Milad Modarresi, Brad Gillon, Javad Najjar Mojarrab, Rodrigo Aguilar, Zackary Dylan Hunter, Matthew Steven Schade, Jackie Sanabria, Rebecca Klug, Seth Adkins, Juan R. Sanabria

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions and is now considered a chronic disease by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the West. Its impact on trauma outcomes is of particular interest with several studies presenting conflicting information. The present overview suggests a strong association between obesity and injury severity, hospital length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, pattern of injury, rate of complications and mortality. The nature of the observations may relate to an underlying physiological state of the obese patient and its associated comorbidities with a constant heightened inflammatory state aggravated by the second hit on an …

Examining The Role Of Diagnosis In The Emergency Department Experience, Danielle Kovalsky, Bs, Angela Gerolamo, Phd, Aprn, Bcps, Amanda Doty, Ms, Alexzandra Gentsch, Lsw, Annemarie Jutel, Rn, Bphed (Hons), Phd, Kristin L. Rising, Md, Ms

CwiC Posters

Study Objective:

To explore the social, functional, and emotional needs that patients want addressed when seeking a diagnosis at their ED visit.

Emergency Surgery And Limitation Of Therapeutic Effort In Relation To Neurologic Deterioration In Elderly Patients – A Survey Of European Surgeons, Mihai Paduraru, Luca Ponchietti, Isidro M. Casas, Jorge Pereira, Aitor Landaluce-Olavarria, Diego Mariani

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Background. In emergency surgery, a very heterogeneous approach is required in the decision making process, especially when considering the patient’s postoperative quality of life as well as medical, ethical, and legal factors. In some cases, the presence of an Advance Directive (AD) form may potentially help resolve the surgeon’s dilemma. Objectives. The primary objective of this survey was to investigate the opinions of surgeons across a representative cross-section of European countries regarding the decision making process using a specific case scenario so as to identify similarities and differences in practice. A secondary objective was to identify the possibility of establishing …

A Resident's Note, Syed Muhammad Mustahsan

Department of Emergency Medicine

No abstract provided.

Not All Evidence Is Created Equal: Changes In Practice Require The Highest Possible Level Of Statistical Testing, Sandy Hunter

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The practice of medicine has come a long way over the past 150 years. For example, routine use of leeches to remove “bad blood” no longer occurs, and everyone involved in healthcare knows to wear personal protective equipment.

Changes to practice have (at times) been slow in coming. However, we simply can no longer routinely rely on providing care without evidence that it works. Investigators conduct rigorous studies to determine the efficacy of treatments. This philosophy of testing clinical practices using research methods to validate their efficacy and safety is known as evidence-based medicine.1

Sex Differences In Pediatric Exploratory Exposures: A Retrospective Review Of National Poison Data System (Npds) Exposures 2007-2016, Gillian A. Beauchamp Md, B Zane Horowitz Md, Esther K. Choo Md, Mph, Marna R. Greenberg Do, Mph, Facep, Daniel A. Spyker Md, Phd

Department of Emergency Medicine

No abstract provided.

Sex Differences In Adverse Drug Reactions And Adverse Drug Events In Older Adults: A Retrospective Review Of National Poison Data System Cases 2007-2016., Gillian A. Beauchamp Md, B Zane Horowitz Md, Esther K. Choo Md, Mph, Marna R. Greenberg Do, Mph, Facep, Daniel A. Spyker Md, Phd

Department of Emergency Medicine

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Superstorm Sandy On Medicare Patients' Utilization Of Hospitals And Emergency Departments., Benoit Stryckman, Lauren Walsh, Brendan G. Carr, Nathaniel Hupert, Nicole Lurie

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

INTRODUCTION: National health security requires that healthcare facilities be prepared to provide rapid, effective emergency and trauma care to all patients affected by a catastrophic event. We sought to quantify changes in healthcare utilization patterns for an at-risk Medicare population before, during, and after Superstorm Sandy's 2012 landfall in New Jersey (NJ).

METHODS: This study is a retrospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries impacted by Superstorm Sandy. We compared hospital emergency department (ED) and healthcare facility inpatient utilization in the weeks before and after Superstorm Sandy landfall using a 20% random sample of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries continuously enrolled in 2011 …

Sex Differences In Intentional Exposures Among Adolescents And Adults: A Retrospective Review Of National Poison Data System (Npds) Pharmaceutical Exposures 2007-2016, Gillian A. Beauchamp Md, B Zane Horowitz Md, Esther K. Choo Md, Mph, Marna R. Greenberg Do, Mph, Facep, Daniel A. Spyker Md, Phd

Department of Emergency Medicine

No abstract provided.

Sex Differences In Rt-Pa Utilization At Hospitals Treating Stroke: The National Inpatient Sample., Amelia K. Boehme, Brendan G. Carr, Scott Eric Kasner, Karen C Albright, Michael J. Kallan, Mitchell S V S.V. Elkind, Charles C. Branas, Michael T. Mullen

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Sex and race disparities in recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) use have been reported. We sought to explore sex and race differences in the utilization of rt-PA at primary stroke centers (PSCs) compared to non-PSCs across the US.

METHODS: Data from the National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample (NIS) 2004-2010 was utilized to assess sex differences in treatment for ischemic stroke in PSCs compared to non-PSCs.

RESULTS: There were 304,152 hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of ischemic stroke between 2004 and 2010 in the analysis: 75,160 (24.7%) patients were evaluated at a PSC. A little over half of the …

Accuracy Of Emergency Medical Services Dispatcher And Crew Diagnosis Of Stroke In Clinical Practice., Judy Jia, Roger Band, Michael E. Abboud, William Pajerowski, Michelle Guo, Guy David, C. Crawford Mechem, Steven R Messé, Brendan G. Carr, Michael T Mullen

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Accurate recognition of stroke symptoms by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is necessary for timely care of acute stroke patients. We assessed the accuracy of stroke diagnosis by EMS in clinical practice in a major US city.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Philadelphia Fire Department data were merged with data from a single comprehensive stroke center to identify patients diagnosed with stroke or TIA from 9/2009 to 10/2012. Sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) were calculated. Multivariable logistic regression identified variables associated with correct EMS diagnosis. There were 709 total cases, with 400 having a discharge diagnosis of stroke or TIA. EMS …