Articles related to Emergency Medicine

A 55-year-old man developed progressive weakness, areflexia, and respiratory compromise after a fall, despite spinal imaging that initially appeared to explain his presentation.

A prospective multicenter study of 970 adults with suspected mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) found that a rapid point-of-care blood test measuring GFAP and UCH-L1 achieved 96.5% sensitivity and 96.5% negative predictive value for detecting CT-positive intracranial injury, supporting its potential role in reducing unnecessary head CT imaging.

A multisociety consensus paper outlines hospital-level strategies to improve sepsis outcomes, emphasizing diagnostic stewardship, antimicrobial optimization, surveillance, infection prevention, and multidisciplinary infrastructure while prioritizing interventions judged most feasible and impactful for broad implementation.

In a prospective study of nearly 4,000 children evaluated for suspected pulmonary embolism, the PERC-Peds rule demonstrated 99.6% sensitivity and a 0.1% false-negative rate. The findings support diagnostic assessment performance in the study population without establishing broader implementation outcomes.

Hospitals in multiple states have adopted postpartum notification wristbands intended to improve recognition of post-delivery complications. While proponents cite increased awareness and lower readmission rates at some institutions, evidence supporting broad outcome benefits remains limited.

A medical ICU implemented risk-stratified nursing interventions to prevent unplanned extubation and reduced event rates from 1.307 to 0.344 per 100 ventilator days over five years. The quality improvement initiative focused on assessment, communication, and standardized prevention bundles.