Association of an Emergency Critical Care Program With Survival and Early Downgrade Among Critically Ill Medical Patients in the Emergency Department* OBJECTIVES: To determine whether implementation of an Emergency Critical Care Program (ECCP) is associated with improved survival and early downgrade of critically ill medical patients in the emergency department (ED). DESIGN: Single-center, retrospective cohort study using ED-visit data between 2015 and 2019. SETTING: Tertiary academic medical center. PATIENTS: Adult medical patients presenting to the ED with a critical care admission order within 12 hours of arrival. INTERVENTIONS: Dedicated bedside critical care for medical ICU patients by an ED-based intensivist following initial resuscitation by the ED team.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:Primary outcomes were inhospital mortality and the proportion of patients downgraded to non-ICU status while in the ED within 6 hours of the critical care admission order (ED downgrade <6 hr). A difference-in-differences (DiD) analysis compared the change in outcomes for patients arriving during ECCP hours (2 pm to midnight, weekdays) between the preintervention period (2015-2017) and the intervention period (2017-2019) to the change in outcomes for patients arriving during non-ECCP hours (all other hours). Adjustment for severity of illness was performed using the emergency critical care Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (eccSOFA) score. The primary cohort included 2,250 patients. The DiDs for the eccSOFA-adjusted inhospital mortality decreased by 6.0% (95% CI, -11.9 to -0.1) with largest difference in the intermediate illness severity group (DiD, -12.2%; 95% CI, -23.1 to -1.3). The increase in ED downgrade less than 6 hours was not statistically significant (DiD, 4.8%; 95% CI, -0.7 to 10.3%) except in the intermediate group (DiD, 8.8%; 95% CI, 0.2-17.4).
CONCLUSIONS:The implementation of a novel ECCP was associated with a significant decrease in inhospital mortality among critically ill medical ED patients, with the greatest decrease observed in patients with intermediate severity of illness. Early ED downgrades also increased, but the difference was statistically significant only in the intermediate illness severity group. KEY WORDS: critical care medicine; emergency department critical care; emergency medicine; health care delivery models; intensive care unit triage C ritical care delivery in U.S. emergency departments (EDs) is increasing, particularly in urban hospitals (1, 2). Between 2006 and 2014, ED visits for critically ill patients increased by 80% with minimal accompanying growth in available ED capacity and ICU beds (3). The ED is not designed for longitudinal care of the critically ill; previous studies on ED boarding of
Background: Spontaneous non-traumatic pneumothorax is a relatively common clinical presentation in the Emergency Department. The diagnosis of spontaneous non-traumatic pneumothorax has evolved from basic chest radiography to the reference standard of CT imaging. Point-of-care ultrasound is another highly sensitive diagnostic modality that has gained increasing acceptance. Finally, the treatment of this type of pneumothorax has also been rapidly changing. Objective: We give an overview of the current literature regarding the definition and classification for pneumothorax. We discuss the current methods of diagnosis and management of spontaneous non-traumatic pneumothorax, which now include the promising treatment alternative of smaller pigtail thoracostomy catheters. We also discuss how a rapidly placed smaller pigtail catheter may be a viable single management option for a spontaneous tension pneumothorax. Discussion: The management of spontaneous non-traumatic pneumothorax has been rapidly advancing. Viable treatment options now include observation alone, needle aspiration and placement of a small pigtail thoracostomy catheter, in addition to the use of a traditional thoracostomy tube. Conclusion: Although the traditional treatment for a spontaneous non-traumatic pneumothorax was placement of a larger thoracostomy tube, this may no longer be the optimal management approach in these patients. The use of smaller pigtail thoracostomy catheters provides a viable treatment alternative to these larger catheters, and may also be used effectively as the only treatment step in a spontaneous tension pneumothorax. Placement of these smaller catheters sets the stage for potential outpatient management of pneumothorax, with increased comfort for the patient and possible cost savings.
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