Emergency medicine
Madhushri Vadhone Dinesh; Aruna Chala Ramesh; Keshava Murthy M Rangaswamy; Hariprasad Kanakapura Veerendranath
Volume 8, Issue 2 , July 2022, , Pages 134-140
Abstract
Objective: Chest pain is amongst the most frequently occurring symptoms in patientspresenting to the emergency department (ED). Accurate and fast risk stratification isparamountforidentification of patients with immediate risk of acute coronary syndrome(ACS). The present study has compared different ...
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Objective: Chest pain is amongst the most frequently occurring symptoms in patientspresenting to the emergency department (ED). Accurate and fast risk stratification isparamountforidentification of patients with immediate risk of acute coronary syndrome(ACS). The present study has compared different scoring systems like HEART (History,ECG,Age,Risk factors, Troponin), ThrombolysisinMyocardial Infarction (TIMI), andGlobalRegistryofAcuteCoronaryEvents(GRACE)scores andtheir efficacyinpredicting incidenceof major adverse cardiac events(MACE).Methods: The present prospective observational study was conducted on 199 patientswho presented in the ED with complaint of chest pain. HEART, GRACE and TIMI scoreswere calculated with collected patient data which was further evaluated for efficacy bycalculating area under ROC curves (AUCs). Data were analyzed by using R statisticalsoftware version 4.0.3 and Microsoft Excel. P value less than or equal to 0.05 indicatesstatistical significance.Results:Inthecurrentstudy,76(38%)patientsreportedMACE.TheHEARTscoreidentifiedthelargestnumberofpatientsashighrisk74(37%)andamongthem69patientsdevelopedaMACE.TheAUCofHEART scorewasthehighestwith0.96(95%CI:0.93-0.98),followedbyTIMIscore with 0.815 (95% CI: 0.75-0.873) and the GRACE score with 0.814 (95% CI: 0.75-0.813). The sensitivity of HEART score of ≥7 for MACE wasfound to be 90.78%,specificitywas 95.96%, positive predictive value (PPV) was 93.24% and negative predictive value(NPV) was 94.4%. The sensitivity of GRACE score was 39.4%, specificity was 95.16%, PPVwas 83.3% and NPV was 71.95%. The sensitivity of TIMI score was 30.2%, specificity was95.96%, PPV was 82.14% and NPV was 69.18%.Conclusion:TheHEARTscoreshowedhigherefficacyinpredictingrisklevelsinpatientsandincidenceofMACE incomparisonwithGRACE andTIMIscoresintheincludedstudy cohort.
Emergency medicine
Mojtaba Samimi; Arash Safaie; Mehran Sotoodehnia; Fatemeh Rasooli; Atefeh Abdollahi
Volume 7, Issue 1 , January 2021, , Pages 22-27
Abstract
Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the role of an emergency nurse coordinator (ENC) in improving patient satisfaction at the emergency department (ED) in Tehran, Iran.Methods: This was an interventional study in the field of ED management. This study was undertaken in the ED of Sina hospital ...
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Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the role of an emergency nurse coordinator (ENC) in improving patient satisfaction at the emergency department (ED) in Tehran, Iran.Methods: This was an interventional study in the field of ED management. This study was undertaken in the ED of Sina hospital in Tehran, Iran, during March 2018 until April 2019. An ENC was assigned to the ED on even days and during the next week. Also, the presence of the ENC was switched to odd days and so on. Patient satisfaction was evaluated by a questionnaire. In order to analyze data, independent T-test was used to assess the mean difference in satisfaction scores. In addition, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) test was utilized to assess the difference in satisfaction scores after considering age, sex and triage level as confounding variables. Results: Finally, 315 and 291 patients were allocated to the intervention (patients with ENC) and control groups (patients without ENC), respectively. The total satisfaction rate in the intervention and control groups was 63.9% and 59.3%, respectively. The mean score of total satisfaction in the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group [115.1 (SD = 20.0) vs 106.8 (SD = 22.3); P < 0.001]. The ANCOVA analysis showed that age, sex and triage level were not confounding factors affecting the satisfaction score.Conclusion: This study showed that the presence of the ENC in the ED can increase patient satisfaction, especially in domains related to “diagnostic and therapeutic services”, “cleanliness”, “cost and discharge information”, “ethical and privacy issues”, “admission, discharge and management services”.
Emergency Medical Services
Sahar Mirbaha; Mohammadmehd Forouzanfar; Amin Saberinia; Amir Salimi; Hamid Kariman; Mozhgan Farmahini Farahani
Volume 6, Issue 1 , January 2020, , Pages 43-46
Abstract
Objective: Each imaging technique has a special application and usage, and should be used in the right situation. Physicians choose the type of imaging technique by considering the type of tissue and the benefits and disadvantages of the imaging method as well as its financial burden on the patient. ...
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Objective: Each imaging technique has a special application and usage, and should be used in the right situation. Physicians choose the type of imaging technique by considering the type of tissue and the benefits and disadvantages of the imaging method as well as its financial burden on the patient. The aim of this study was to estimate the cost of imaging tests performed in the emergency department (ED) of an educational hospital and determine their financial burden on both the patients and the healthcare system of the country. Methods: This retrospective descriptive cross-sectional single-center study was conducted in Shohadaye Tajrish, an educational hospital, during one year. The study population consisted of all patients who had undergone some type of imaging (CT scan, ultrasound, radiography, magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]) in the ED. The information was collected using a predesigned checklist. The costs of a variety of imaging methods for patients referred to the ED were calculated using different types of accounting units and PACS system. Results: The number of patients who visited the ED of the studied hospital during a one year period was 63507. The total cost of performing different types of imaging methods in the studied center throughout the one-year target period was 44018695695 Rials (≃$US 423745) (59.27% of which was spent on CT scan, 16.09% on ultrasound, 13.75% on plain radiography and 10.87% on MRI). Conclusion: According to the collected data, the total cost of radiology was 44018695695 Rials. The highest cost was related to CT scan modality, and the lowest belonged to MRI.
Emergency Medical Services
Alireza Ala; Farzad Rahmani; Reza Aslzad; Zahra Parsian
Volume 4, Issue 1 , January 2018, , Pages 14-17
Abstract
Objective: On account of the widespread use of nuclear energy in different fields, nuclear accidents and disasters have been on a rise. Thus, it is crucial for medical staff especially emergency department personnel to be aware of the nature of these accidents. This study was designed to evaluate the ...
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Objective: On account of the widespread use of nuclear energy in different fields, nuclear accidents and disasters have been on a rise. Thus, it is crucial for medical staff especially emergency department personnel to be aware of the nature of these accidents. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of training on the knowledge of physicians and nurses regarding nuclear disasters. Methods: This pre-and post-intervention study was conducted on 97 emergency department personnel including physicians and nurses of educational hospitals in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Educational classes and training about nuclear disasters and managing these events were held. A standard questionnaire was used to evaluate the knowledge before and after training, and the effect of education on personnel’s knowledge. Results: Our participants included 41 males and 56 females. The mean age was 32.88 years. The mean score of participants before and after the class was 4.03 ± 1.54 and 7.93 ± 1.55 respectively; which showed a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001). Among medical staff, physicians had better knowledge compared with the other group. Conclusion: This study showed that the knowledge of medical staff about nuclear disasters is low and educational classes are necessary to increase their knowledge.
Emergency medicine
Seyyed Hosein Montazer; Behzad Feizzadeh; Farzad Bozorgi; Seyed Mohammad Hosseininejad; Ayyoub Barzegarnezhad; Iraj Golikatir; Fatemeh Jahanian; Hasan Motamed; Hamed Aminiahidashti
Volume 4, Issue 1 , January 2018, , Pages 39-43
Abstract
Objective: The main purpose in the treatment of renal colic patients in emergency department is pain management. This study aimed to compare the analgesic effects of intravenous (IV) acetaminophen and morphine sulfate in this regard.
Methods: This double blind clinical trial was conducted on >18 ...
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Objective: The main purpose in the treatment of renal colic patients in emergency department is pain management. This study aimed to compare the analgesic effects of intravenous (IV) acetaminophen and morphine sulfate in this regard.
Methods: This double blind clinical trial was conducted on >18 years old renal colic patients in need of pain management in emergency department. Pain severity was recorded as 15, 30, and 60 minutes before injection, and 120 minutes after injection. In addition, side effects were compared between IV acetaminophen and morphine sulfate groups using SPSS version 16.
Results: A total of 355 patients were randomly allocated to one of the treatment groups. There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding baseline characteristic of participants. There was no significant difference in the pain intensity of the groups; 15 (P = 0.13) and 30 (P = 0.15) minutes after treatment. Although, the difference in pain severity was statistically significant between the two groups; 60 (P = 0.02) and 120 (P = 0.003) minutes after the infusion. This was not clinically important. The prevalence of side effects in morphine group was higher than the acetaminophen group (RR: 2.14, 95% CI: 1.53-2.98, P< 0.0001).
Conclusion: Based on the findings, IV morphine sulfate and acetaminophen had equal effectiveness regarding acute renal colic pain management, but considering the significantly higher frequency of side effects, IV acetaminophen seems to be a more reasonable choice in this regard.
Emergency Medical Services
Seyedhossein Ojaghihaghighi; Samad Shams Vahdati; Simin Taghavi; Aydin Rahimzade Jahandari; Pegah Sepehri Majd; Mohammad Mirza-Aghazadeh-Attari
Volume 4, Issue 1 , January 2018, , Pages 44-47
Abstract
Objective: Pregnancy is an important psychological and biological phenomenon in women’s life. Pregnancy has many complications jeopardizing the well-being of the mother and the child. Methods: In this retrospective study, the data including demographic information, chief complaint, the initial ...
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Objective: Pregnancy is an important psychological and biological phenomenon in women’s life. Pregnancy has many complications jeopardizing the well-being of the mother and the child. Methods: In this retrospective study, the data including demographic information, chief complaint, the initial diagnosis, referral decision, final diagnosis, hospitalization outcome and pregnancy outcomes were studied on 239 pregnant women admitted to the emergency departments of the general hospitals of East Azerbaijan province. Results: The average age of patients was 27.54 years. The time period from the initial presentation to completely leave the emergency department was reported to be 3.66 hours on average. In this study, most patients (74.5%) did not have a history of abortion. Exploring the time of admission for all cases, most patients were admitted from 8 pm to 8 am (67.8%), and 32.2% were referred from 8 am to 8 pm. Concerning the time of pregnancy, 46.4% were at their second trimester of pregnancy. Most of the patients were admitted in cold seasons of the year. The most common chief compliant was abdominal pain with 32.2% frequency. In addition, the most frequent primary diagnoses were an acute abdomen and trauma at 25.5% and 14.2% respectively. Conclusion: Abdominal pain and acute abdomen have the most frequency as the chief compliant and initial diagnosis especially during the second trimester of pregnancy. In this regard, appropriate training and skillful staff are needed to deal with the complaints and complications of abdominal pain. More than half of pregnant women referred to the emergency departments were hospitalized or admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). This signals the necessity of adequate facilities to provide proper care for this group.