The ingestion of foreign bodies is a common problem in the pediatric population. Emergent treatment of ingested foreign bodies is dependent on the type of foreign body ingested, patient symptoms, timing of ingestion, and the location of the foreign body. Although X-ray and computed tomography are the imaging techniques used most often to assess for foreign bodies, ultrasonography, which lacks ionizing radiation, may also be useful. This case series describes 8 cases of gastrointestinal tract foreign bodies and the utility of point-of-care ultrasonography for their real-time evaluation.
Objective: The rate of readmissions to the emergency room is an important indicator of measuring hospital performance and quality of care. This study aimed to determine the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients with confirmed COVID-19, who presented to the emergency room of a training and research tertiary hospital and received medical treatment, but were readmitted to the hospital within 72 hours after being discharged. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional, and single-centre trial. The data of patients who presented to the emergency room with the diagnosis of COVID-19 were obtained retrospectively from the Hospital Information Management System. Patient data comprised adult patients readmitted to the hospital between 01 March and 31 December 2020. Results: Between 01 March and 31 December 2020, a total of 56,497 patients with the diagnosis of COVID-19 presented to our emergency room, and 0.04% of them returned to the emergency room with similar complaints within 72 hours. Among those who returned, 51.4% were female and the mean age was 41.67, mostly in the 30-49 age range. The present study found that 30.8%, who were readmitted, had at least one comorbidity, and those with comorbidities had lower saturation values at the readmission. On the other hand, the most common reason for admission in patients without comorbidities was found to be diarrhoea and loss of taste, while nausea and cough were the most common complaints in patients with comorbidities. Conclusion: There is a need for the design of further studies in order to establish the criteria for the safe return of COVID-19 patients to home, and to reduce the re-admission rates and increase the quality of care.
Background Nasopharyngeal (NP) and oropharyngeal (OP) swab sampling for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis may lead to droplet and/or airborne particle transmission and increase the exposure risk for health care workers (HCWs). However, there is limited evidence for effective methods to reduce occupational exposure from NP and OP swab sampling. This study aimed to reduce droplet-forming responses (DFRs) and the related exposure risk of NP and OP swab sampling by administering 10% lidocaine spray (LS) to the NP and OP areas prior to conducting swab tests. Methods This quasi-experimental study was conducted with 100 patients who presented to our tertiary care hospital with symptoms of COVID-19 between December 1 and 15, 2020. First, NP and OP swabbings were performed on each patient. Thereafter, LS was applied to the OP and NP regions, and the swab samples were taken once again. Frequency of DFRs and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results before and after LS application were recorded for comparison. In addition, the cycle threshold (Ct) was used as a proxy indicator for SARS-CoV-2 viral load in COVID-19 positive cases. Findings Significant differences in OP DFR frequencies before and after LS intervention were found (37% and 9%, respectively), as well as before and after NP DFR (31% and 18%, respectively). The mean Ct values for the positive samples did not differ before and after applying LS. Conclusion Our results suggest that applying LS to the OP and NP area prior to swab testing reduces DFR frequencies without affecting (RT-PCR) test results for SARS-CoV-2 and may increase patient and practitioner comfort.
Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the usability of the age value listed on the labels on children’s clothes in the age-based weight estimation method recommended by the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) guidelines. Material-Method: This prospective, cross-sectional study was organized in Antalya Training and Research Hospital Emergency Department. Children aged between 1-12 years were included in the study. The weight measurements of the children were obtained based on the age-related criteria on the labels of their clothes. The estimated values were compared with the real values of the cases measured on the scale. Results: One-thousand ninety-four cases were included, the mean age of cases in age-based measurements was 6.25 years, which was 6.5 years in label-based measurements. Average weights measured 25.75kg according to age-based measurements, 26.5kg according to label-based measurements, and 26.0kg on the scales, and showed no statistical difference (P <.0001). It was estimated that 741 (67.7%) of age-based measurements and 775 (70.8%) of label-based measurements were within (±)10% values within the normal measurement limits and no significant difference was measured. Conclusion: In the emergency department and prehospital setting, children with an unknown age and that need resuscitation and interventional procedures for stabilization, and have no time for weight estimation, checking the age on clothing label (ACL) instead of the actual age (AA) can be safely used for the age-dependent weight calculation formula recommended by the PALS guide.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.