Peter E. Sokolove

Endoscopy-based triage significantly reduces hospitalization rates and costs of treating upper GI bleeding: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND Many patients with upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding have a benign outcome and could receive less intensive and costly care if accurately identified. We sought to determine whether early endoscopy performed shortly after admission in the emergency department could significantly reduce the health care use and costs of caring for patients with nonvariceal upper GI bleeding without adversely affecting the clinical outcome. METHODS All eligible patients with upper GI bleeding and stable vital signs were randomized after admission to undergo endoscopy in 1 to 2 days (control) or early endoscopy in the emergency department. Patients with low-risk findings on early endoscopy were discharged directly from the emergency department. Clinical outcomes and costs were prospectively assessed for 30 days. RESULTS We randomized 110 consecutive stable patients with nonvariceal upper GI bleeding during the 12-month study period. The baseline demographic features, endoscopic findings, and the clinical outcomes were no different between the two groups. However the findings of the early endoscopy allowed us to immediately discharge 26 of 56 (46%) patients randomized to that group. No patient discharged from the emergency department suffered an adverse outcome. The hospital stay (median of 1 day [interquartile range of 0 to 3 days] vs. 2 days [interquartile range of 2 to 3 days], p = 0.0001) and the cost of care (

The safety of etomidate for emergency rapid sequence intubation of pediatric patients

2068 [interquartile range of

Identifying Children at Very Low Risk of Clinically Important Blunt Abdominal Injuries

928 to

Exsanguination due to right ventricular rupture during closed-chest cardiopulmonary resuscitation

3960] versus

Patients prefer boarding in inpatient hallways: correlation with the national emergency department overcrowding score.

3662 [interquartile range of

Implementation of an emergency department triage procedure for the detection and isolation of patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis.

2473 to

Association Between the Seat Belt Sign and Intra-abdominal Injuries in Children With Blunt Torso Trauma in Motor Vehicle Collisions

7280], p = 0.00006) were significantly less for the early endoscopy group. CONCLUSIONS Early endoscopy performed shortly after admission in the emergency department safely triaged 46% of patients with nonvariceal upper GI bleeding to outpatient care, which significantly reduced hospital stay and costs.

The 2007 Model of the Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine: The 2009 Update: 2009 EM Model Review Task Force

Objective To determine whether pediatric patients given etomidate for rapid sequence intubation (RSI) in the ED develop clinically important hypotension or adrenal insufficiency. Methods Retrospective review of 100 consecutive patients younger than age 10 years given etomidate for RSI in the ED at two academic medical centers. Data were abstracted from ED and in-patient medical records. Clinically important hypotension was defined as a decrease in systolic blood pressure (BP) measurement to below one standard deviation (SD) of mean normal for age. Clinically important adrenal insufficiency was defined as the need for exogenous corticosteroid replacement for suspected adrenal insufficiency at any time during hospitalization. Results BP measurements before and within 20 minutes after etomidate administration for RSI were recorded on 84 intubations (84%). The mean change in BP between pre-intubation and post-intubation measurements was a decrease of 1 mmHg (95% CI: −6 mmHg to +7 mmHg, P = 0.83). When expressed as a percentage of normal BP for age, the mean change in BP was a decrease of 1% (95% CI: −7% to +6%, P = 0.82). Four patients (4.8%; 95% CI: 1.3–11.7%) had a systolic BP decrease to below one SD of mean normal for age. Fourteen patients received corticosteroids during hospitalization, but none (0/99, 95% CI: 0–3.7%) for suspected adrenal insufficiency. Conclusions We found no evidence of clinically important adrenocorticoid suppression and a low incidence of clinically important hypotension when using etomidate for emergent pediatric RSI. Because other induction agents may also result in hypotension, prospective comparison studies are needed to further evaluate the safety of etomidate in this patient population.

Interobserver Agreement in the Clinical Assessment of Children With Blunt Abdominal Trauma

STUDY OBJECTIVE We derive a prediction rule to identify children at very low risk for intra-abdominal injuries undergoing acute intervention and for whom computed tomography (CT) could be obviated. METHODS We prospectively enrolled children with blunt torso trauma in 20 emergency departments. We used binary recursive partitioning to create a prediction rule to identify children at very low risk of intra-abdominal injuries undergoing acute intervention (therapeutic laparotomy, angiographic embolization, blood transfusion for abdominal hemorrhage, or intravenous fluid for ≥2 nights for pancreatic/gastrointestinal injuries). We considered only historical and physical examination variables with acceptable interrater reliability. RESULTS We enrolled 12,044 children with a median age of 11.1 years (interquartile range 5.8, 15.1 years). Of the 761 (6.3%) children with intra-abdominal injuries, 203 (26.7%) received acute interventions. The prediction rule consisted of (in descending order of importance) no evidence of abdominal wall trauma or seat belt sign, Glasgow Coma Scale score greater than 13, no abdominal tenderness, no evidence of thoracic wall trauma, no complaints of abdominal pain, no decreased breath sounds, and no vomiting. The rule had a negative predictive value of 5,028 of 5,034 (99.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 99.7% to 100%), sensitivity of 197 of 203 (97%; 95% CI 94% to 99%), specificity of 5,028 of 11,841 (42.5%; 95% CI 41.6% to 43.4%), and negative likelihood ratio of 0.07 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.15). CONCLUSION A prediction rule consisting of 7 patient history and physical examination findings, and without laboratory or ultrasonographic information, identifies children with blunt torso trauma who are at very low risk for intra-abdominal injury undergoing acute intervention. These findings require external validation before implementation.

A Multicenter Study of the Risk of Intra-Abdominal Injury in Children After Normal Abdominal Computed Tomography Scan Results in the Emergency Department

We report on a 61-year-old woman in whom cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was unsuccessful. While the patient was initially resuscitated from the primary cardiac arrest, with evidence of neurologic recovery, she ultimately succumbed to injuries resulting directly from closed-chest CPR. Autopsy revealed multiple rib fractures, a sternal fracture, pulmonary laceration, and cardiac rupture. In a patient with deteriorating vital signs following successful closed-chest CPR, such injuries should be considered.