Prehospital Traction Splint Use in Midthigh Trauma Patients.

Context: Traction splint (TS) use during emergency medical system transport has been theorized to relieve pain, limit continued injury from loose bone fragments, and decrease potential bleeding space in the injured thigh.

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the benefit of prehospital TS (PTS) application, using data from the trauma registry at a large Level 1 trauma center.

Methods: A retrospective review of patients from the NTRACS and Trauma One registry at an American College of Surgeons-verified Level 1 trauma center was conducted.

Self-obtained vaginal swabs are not inferior to provider-performed endocervical sampling for emergency department diagnosis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis.

Objective: Provider-performed endocervical sampling (PPES) in the diagnosis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) may be difficult to perform in a busy emergency department (ED) due to patient preference, availability of the pelvic examination room, or provider availability. Our objective was to assess if self-obtained vaginal swabs (SOVS) were noninferior to PPES in the ED diagnosis of NG/CT using a rapid nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT).

Methods: We conducted a prospective observational cohort study in a single ED.