How Many Medics Does It Take to Get ROSC? No Joke!
Spoon Feed
Larger numbers of EMS personnel at the scene of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) resuscitation were associated with improved patient outcomes.
November 2021
Prevalence of Midline Cervical Spine Tenderness without Traumatic Injury
Spoon Feed
Over half of the patients who had NOT undergone any head or neck trauma were found to have midline cervical spine tenderness to palpation, likely contributing to the high sensitivity but low specificity of clinical decision rules such as the NEXUS criteria.
High or Low-Dose IM Ketorolac for Musculoskeletal Pain?
Spoon Feed
For ketorolac dosing in acute musculoskeletal pain, 15mg IM was non-inferior to 60 mg IM.
Rapid MRI Screening for Pediatric Headache?
Spoon Feed
A fast MRI for children with persistent or recurrent headache was feasible and detected sinusitis in many patients and an intracranial mass in one child.
Does This Patient Have Cauda Equina?
Spoon Feed
This retrospective review demonstrated that bilateral lower extremity pain, sensory loss in a dermatomal distribution, and loss of bilateral ankle or knee reflexes were the best correlates to a radiographic diagnosis of CEC (cauda equina compression). Also, rectal exam had little to no diagnostic utility.
Isolated Vomiting – Is It “Just a Virus?”
Spoon Feed
Children with acute isolated vomiting have a viral pathogen detected more than half the time.
Time = Brain in Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Spoon Feed
Patients treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy within 6 hours of carbon monoxide exposure had better 6-month neurocognitive outcomes than patients who received treatment within 6-24 hours. Poor outcomes increased as time-to-treatment increased.
Don’t Feed the Bears – Overprescribing Antibiotics and Downstream Healthcare Utilization
Spoon Feed
In the year following an urgent care center (UCC) visit for acute respiratory illness (ARI), patients of providers in the top quartile of ARI antibiotic prescribing received more future antibiotics after the index visit than those of providers in the bottom quartile. This led to more future healthcare visits for ARI symptoms by both the patient and their spouses.
β-lactam or Vancomycin First for Bacteremia?
Spoon Feed
Administration of a β-lactam before vancomycin in patients with bloodstream infections (BSI) is protective against 48-hour and 7-day mortality.
Does PECARN Still Work in an External Cohort?
Spoon Feed
The PECARN Pediatric Head Injury Rule performed well in an analysis of a prospective data set of 15,163 children with TBI. Risk of clinically important TBI for each of the groups in the PECARN algorithm was consistent with the original PECARN study.