Unscheduled-return-visits after an emergency department (ED) attendance and clinical link between both visits in patients aged 75 years and over: a prospective observational study.

Background: Predictors of unscheduled return visits (URV), best time-frame to evaluate URV rate and clinical relationship between both visits have not yet been determined for the elderly following an ED visit.

Methods: We conducted a prospective-observational study including 11,521 patients aged ≥75-years and discharged from ED (5,368 patients (53.5%)) or hospitalized after ED visit (6,153 patients).

Trends in condom use and risk behaviours after sexual exposure to HIV: a seven-year observational study.

Objective: We aimed to determine the trends in numbers and percentages of sexually exposed persons to HIV (SE) consulting an ED for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), as well as predictors of condom use.

Study Design: We conducted a prospective-observational study.

Methods: We included all SE attendances in our Emergency Department (ED) during a seven-year study-period (2006-2012).

Morphine consumption is not modified in patients with severe pain and classified by the DN4 score as neuropathic.

Neuropathic pain has been poorly investigated in the emergency department, although it is known to be less sensitive to opioids than other forms of pain. We tested the hypothesis that morphine requirements are increased in patients having severe pain classified as neuropathic using the DN4 score. We included adult patients with acute severe pain (visual analog scale ≥ 70), assessed using the DN4 score, and treated with intravenous morphine titration (bolus of 2 or 3 mg [body weight >60 kg] with 5-minute intervals between each bolus).

Cytokine profiles in sepsis have limited relevance for stratifying patients in the emergency department: a prospective observational study.

Introduction: Morbidity, mortality and social cost of sepsis are high. Previous studies have suggested that individual cytokines levels could be used as sepsis markers. Therefore, we assessed whether the multiplex technology could identify useful cytokine profiles in Emergency Department (ED) patients.

Concordance between capnography and capnia in adults admitted for acute dyspnea in an ED.

Background: End-tidal carbon dioxide pressure (etCO(2)) is widely used in anaesthesia and critical care in intubated patients. The aim of our preliminary study was to evaluate the feasibility of a simple device to predict capnia in spontaneously breathing patients in an emergency department (ED).

Patients And Methods: This study was a prospective, nonblind study performed in our teaching hospital ED.

Is procalcitonin a marker of critical illness in heatstroke?

Objective: To study the effect of non-exertional heatstroke on serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels.

Design: Cohort study.

Setting: The emergency and intensive care departments of two academic tertiary-care hospitals, Paris, France

Patients: A total of 53 patients with defined heatstroke attending the emergency department and/or the intensive care unit during the August 2003 heat wave in France.

Serum procalcitonin measurement as diagnostic and prognostic marker in febrile adult patients presenting to the emergency department.

Introduction: Identification of bacterial infections is crucial if treatment is to be initiated early and antibiotics used rationally. The primary objective of this study was to test the efficiency of procalcitonin (PCT) in identifying bacterial/parasitic episodes among febrile adult patients presenting to an emergency department. Secondary objectives were to identify clinical or biological variables associated with either bacterial/parasitic infection or critical illness.

Does serum alpha interferon measurement aid in the etiological diagnosis of febrile adult patients?

In febrile patients, distinguishing bacterial from viral infections is crucial for early treatment initiation and rational use of antibiotics. Raised interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) levels in serum has been associated with a wide range of viral infections. We evaluated the effectiveness of IFN-alpha serum measurements for the etiological diagnosis of febrile patients.