Emergency medical service interpretation of Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) in cardiopulmonary arrest.

Objective: Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms exist in some form in all 50 states. This study evaluates emergency medical service (EMS) practitioners interpretation of the POLST in cardiopulmonary arrest.

Methods: This study used a prospective convenience sample of California Bay Area EMS practitioners who reviewed 6 fictional scenarios of patients in cardiopulmonary arrest and accompanying California POLST forms.

A Baffling Bump: A Case Report of an Unusual Chest Wall Mass in a Pediatric Patient.

Introduction: Chest wall masses are rare in children, but the differential diagnosis is broad and can include traumatic injury, neoplasm, and inflammatory or infectious causes. We report a novel case of an eight-year-old, previously healthy female who presented to the emergency department (ED) with one month of cough, fevers, weight loss, and an anterior chest wall mass.

Case Report: The patient's ultimate diagnosis was necrotizing pneumonia with pneumatocele extending into the chest wall.

Dronabinol for the Treatment of Paraneoplastic Night Sweats in Cancer Patients: A Report of Five Cases.

Night sweats significantly impact the quality of life for cancer patients and are often resistant to treatment. Cannabinoids have been shown to modulate cytokine activity and produce hypothermia in animal models, suggesting that they may be a promising candidate for palliation of night sweats in patients with oncologic disease. Assess efficacy of the oral cannabinoid, dronabinol, for palliation of night sweats in cancer patients.

Ondansetron does not prevent physical dependence in patients taking opioid medications chronically for pain control.

Objectives: In this study, we investigated the co-administration of ondansetron with morphine, and whether it could prevent the development of physical dependence in patients taking opioids for the treatment of chronic pain.

Methods: A total of 48 chronic back pain patients (N = 48) participated in this double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized study. Patients were titrated onto sustained-release oral morphine and randomized to take 8 mg ondansetron or placebo three times daily concurrently with morphine during the 30-day titration.