Clin Pract Cases Emerg Med
November 2024
Introduction: Patients living with dementia as well as patients with neurological deficits are at significant risk for injury from multiple sources. Injuries may include falls, neglect, and, in some cases, self-injury. These patients require significant observation and closely monitored care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHospitals without formal obstetric services place the emergency physician in the position of managing potentially complicated precipitous labor and delivery such as breech presentations. Breech deliveries pose an increased risk of significant morbidity and mortality to both the mother and fetus. Recent emphasis on cesarean section as the optimal delivery method for breech presentation has decreased education and comfort levels with breech vaginal deliveries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The United States has an opioid abuse crisis that has been increasing exponentially since 2013. In 2021, there were 220 deaths each day from opioid overdoses in the United States alone. Patients suffering from addiction often present to the emergency department (ED) anticipating that an intravenous (IV) catheter will be placed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatients who inject drugs (PWID) pose unique challenges in their medical care due to risks of increased infection and overdose. There are no known commercially available devices to prevent patients from self-injecting non-prescribed substances into vascular access devices (VADs). A patient in the emergency department (ED) of a midsized suburban hospital self-injected an opioid in the ED restroom after the placement of a vascular catheter by the nursing staff as part of her ED care.
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