Association of Computed Tomography With Treatment and Timing of Care in Adult Patients With Peritonsillar Abscess.

Peritonsillar abscess (PTA) is a common occurrence in adult patients, and an important question in such often-seen disease processes is whether we are treating these patients effectively, efficiently, and economically. We sought to determine if a diagnostic computed tomography (CT) scan was associated with a difference in clinical intervention in adult patients with PTA and if CT was associated with delaying this intervention. We conducted a retrospective case-control study examining therapeutic interventions in adults with PTA.

Establishing the Need for an Evidence-Based Treatment Algorithm for Peritonsillar Abscess in Children.

In this retrospective case series, we report clinical factors associated with pediatric peritonsillar abscess (PTA), with hopes of contributing to the design of an evidenced-based, economic treatment approach. Charts were examined for presenting symptoms and signs. Each of these were analyzed for association with the presence of PTA and for association with treatment.

Reducing Opioid Prescribing Rates in Emergency Medicine.

Background: Pain management is one of the most common reasons patients visit the emergency department. Understanding the contributions of emergency medicine-and specifically Ochsner Health System's emergency providers-to the opioid crisis is important. Benchmark prescribing data indicated that Ochsner Health System emergency medicine providers' opioid prescription rates were significantly higher than the national average in emergency medicine.

Unusually high illness severity and short incubation periods in two foodborne outbreaks of Salmonella Heidelberg infections with potential coincident Staphylococcus aureus intoxication.

We describe the investigation of two temporally coincident illness clusters involving salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus in two states. Cases were defined as gastrointestinal illness following two meal events. Investigators interviewed ill persons.