Evaluation of the revised trauma and injury severity scores in elderly trauma patients.

Background: Severity-of-illness scoring systems have primarily been developed for, and validated in, younger trauma patients.

Aims: We sought to determine the accuracy of the injury severity score (ISS) and the revised trauma score (RTS) in predicting mortality and hospital length of stay (LOS) in trauma patients over the age of 65 treated in our emergency department (ED).

Materials And Methods: Using the Illinois Trauma Registry, we identified all patients 65 years and older treated in our level I trauma facility from January 2004 to November 2007.

A comparison of the effects of etomidate and midazolam on hospital length of stay in patients with suspected sepsis: a prospective, randomized study.

Study Objective: Etomidate, a widely used induction agent for rapid sequence intubation in the emergency department (ED), causes measurable adrenal suppression after a single bolus dose. The clinical significance of this adrenal suppression in patients with sepsis remains controversial. We seek to determine the difference in hospital length of stay between patients with suspected sepsis who receive either etomidate or midazolam during intubation in our ED.

Emergency physicians report infrequent use of alpha-blockade for the treatment of ureteral stones.

Purposes: We sought to determine how frequently tamsulosin is used by emergency physicians (EPs) for the treatment of patients with ureteral stones, and examine factors influencing its use.

Basic Procedures: We distributed online and paper surveys to 240 EPs in five states in the United States. Surveys asked the length of time in practice, the type of hospital setting, and the self-reported frequency of tamsulosin use by quartile.

The effect of single-bolus etomidate on septic patient mortality: a retrospective review.

Background: Because of its many desirable properties, etomidate is widely used as an induction agent for endotracheal intubation. However, some have recently called into question the safety of etomidate for even single-bolus use due to its known effects on adrenal suppression.

Objectives: We sought to compare the in-hospital mortality between septic patients given etomidate and those given alternative induction agents for intubation.

The effect of alpha-blockade in emergency department patients with ureterolithiasis.

Background: Recent studies suggest that alpha-blockade with tamsulosin may be useful in the treatment of ureterolithiasis by increasing the success of, and decreasing the time to, stone passage.

Objectives: We sought to determine stone passage success rates in patients diagnosed with ureterolithiasis and discharged from our Emergency Department (ED) with tamsulosin.

Methods: We conducted a non-randomized retrospective cohort study over a 1-year period during which we made monthly follow-up telephone calls to patients discharged from our ED with a diagnosis of ureterolithiasis determined by computed tomography (CT) scan.

A prospective observational study of the effect of etomidate on septic patient mortality and length of stay.

Objectives: Etomidate is known to cause adrenal suppression after single-bolus administration. Some studies suggest that when etomidate is used as an induction agent for intubation of septic patients in the emergency department (ED), this adrenal suppression leads to increased mortality, vasopressor requirements, and length of hospital stay. The authors sought to determine differences in the in-hospital mortality and hospital length of stay (LOS) between septic patients given etomidate and patients given alternative or no induction agents for rapid-sequence intubation in our ED.