Patterns of opioid prescribing in emergency departments during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic was superimposed upon an ongoing epidemic of opioid use disorder and overdose deaths. Although the trend of opioid prescription patterns (OPP) had decreased in response to public health efforts before the pandemic, little is known about the OPP from emergency department (ED) clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We conducted a pre-post study of adult patients who were discharged from 13 EDs and one urgent care within our academic medical system between 01/01/2019 and 09/30/2020 using an interrupted time series (ITS) approach.

Transportation Management Affecting Outcomes of Patients With Spontaneous Intracranial Hemorrhage.

Objective: Patients with spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) have poor outcomes, in part because of blood pressure variability (BPV). Patients with sICH causing elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) are frequently transferred to tertiary centers for neurosurgical interventions. We hypothesized that BPV and care intensity during transport would correlate with outcomes in patients with sICH and elevated ICP.

Interventions affecting blood pressure variability and outcomes after intubating patients with spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage.

Introduction: Spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) that increases intracranial pressure (ICP) is a life-threatening emergency often requiring intubation in Emergency Departments (ED). A previous study of intubated ED patients found that providing ≥5 interventions after initiating mechanical ventilation (pMVI) reduced mortality rate. We hypothesized that pMVIs would lower blood pressure variability (BPV) in patients with sICH and thus improve survival rates and neurologic outcomes.

Emergency Providers' Pain Management in Patients Transferred to Intensive Care Unit for Urgent Surgical Interventions.

Introduction: Pain is the most common complaint for an emergency department (ED) visit, but ED pain management is poor. Reasons for poor pain management include providers' concerns for drug-seeking behaviors and perceptions of patients' complaints. Patients who had objective findings of long bone fractures were more likely to receive pain medication than those who did not, despite pain complaints.