Relationship between the emergency department and critical care units

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (12) ◽  
pp. 1286-1294 ◽  
Author(s):  
James B Leonard ◽  
Bruce Anderson ◽  
Wendy Klein-Schwartz

Background: Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin are serotonergic hallucinogens that are used primarily for recreational abuse. Small studies evaluated the efficacy of LSD and psilocybin for several psychiatric conditions. There are limited safety or toxicity data for either of these substances, especially in large populations. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of single-substance exposures of LSD or psilocybin-containing mushrooms (PcMs) reported to United States poison centers from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2016. The study describes the most frequent toxicities, management sites, and medical outcomes. Results: A total of 5883 PcM and 3554 LSD exposures were included. Most patients were between 13 and 29 years of age (83.9% PcM, 88.9% LSD) and primarily male (77.9% PcM, 74.1% LSD). Most common clinical effects were hallucinations (45.8% PcM, 37.4% LSD), agitation (24.1% PcM, 42.4% LSD), and tachycardia (18.0% PcM, 38.6% LSD). Serious clinical effects were infrequent, but included hyperthermia, seizures, coma, increased serum creatinine, and cardiac arrest. Most patients were treated and released from the emergency department. More LSD patients were admitted to critical care and non-critical care units than PcM patients. Moderate effect was the most frequent outcome for both substances (61.0% PcM, 62.3% LSD). Conclusion: These data find that LSD and PcM use occurs primarily in adolescents and young adults, who experience mild to moderate adverse effects. Serious effects are infrequent but can occur. While most LSD and PcM users require only emergency department management, LSD use is more likely to require medical admission.


POCUS Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-14
Author(s):  
Hadiel Kaiyasah, MD, MRCS (Glasgow), ABHS-GS ◽  
Maryam Al Ali, MBBS

Soft tissue ultrasound (ST-USS) has been shown to be of utmost importance in assessing patients with soft tissue infections in the emergency department or critical care unit. It aids in guiding the management of soft tissue infection based on the sonographic findings.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amirhossein Meisami ◽  
Jivan Deglise-Hawkinson ◽  
Mark Cowen ◽  
Mark P. Van Oyen

Author(s):  
Elise Paradis ◽  
Warren Mark Liew ◽  
Myles Leslie

Drawing on an ethnographic study of teamwork in critical care units (CCUs), this chapter applies Henri Lefebvre’s ([1974] 1991) theoretical insights to an analysis of clinicians’ and patients’ embodied spatial practices. Lefebvre’s triadic framework of conceived, lived, and perceived spaces draws attention to the role of bodies in the production and negotiation of power relations among nurses, physicians, and patients within the CCU. Three ethnographic vignettes—“The Fight,” “The Parade,” and “The Plan”—explore how embodied spatial practices underlie the complexities of health care delivery, making visible the hidden narratives of conformity and resistance that characterize interprofessional care hierarchies. The social orderings of bodies in space are consequential: seeing them is the first step in redressing them.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s206-s207
Author(s):  
Pablo Chico-Sánchez ◽  
Sandra Canovas-Javega ◽  
Natali J. Jimenez-Sepulveda ◽  
Edith Leutscher-Vasen ◽  
Cesar O. Villanueva-Ruiz ◽  
...  

Background:Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is the third etiologic agent of healthcare associated infections, and the most frequent pathogen in ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). In critical care units is associated with high mortality, long hospital stay, and high healthcare-associated costs. We evaluated the effectiveness of filter placement in the water taps in critical care units to prevent the occurrence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIa) by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methods: This experimental study was both cross-over and open-label in nature. We included patients admitted for >24 hours in critical care units over 24 months. The study was divided into 4 periods of 6 months each. We divided the study into 2 groups: patients in units with filters and patients in units without filters. We compared the incidence density of P. aeruginosa HAIs (number of cases divided by the number of person days) according the ECDC definition of case criteria between the groups. The 2 test was used, and the magnitude of the association was calculated as a rate ratio with a 95% confidence interval, adjusted using a Poisson regression model. Results: Overall, 1,132 patients were included in the study: 595 in units with water tap filters and 537 in units without water tap filters. HAI incidence among patients in units with water tap filters was 5.3 per 1,000 person days stay; without water tap filters, HAI incidence was 4.7 per 1,000 person days stay (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.47–1.90). Conclusions: The preliminary results of this study indicate a a lower incidence of P. aeruginosa HAIs in units with filters placed in water taps than in units without filters.Disclosures: NoneFunding: None


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