Publications by authors named "Joshua Broder"

Background: Ocular emergencies comprise 2-3% of emergency department (ED) visits, with retinal detachment requiring emergency surgery. Two-dimensional ultrasound is a rapid bedside tool but is highly operator dependent.

Objective: We determined three-dimensional ultrasound (3DUS) feasibility, acceptability, and usability in eye pathology detection using the ophthalmologist examination as reference standard.

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This second Guideline for Reasonable and Appropriate Care in the Emergency Department (GRACE-2) from the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine is on the topic "low-risk, recurrent abdominal pain in the emergency department." The multidisciplinary guideline panel applied the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to assess the certainty of evidence and strength of recommendations regarding four priority questions for adult emergency department patients with low-risk, recurrent, undifferentiated abdominal pain. The intended population includes adults with multiple similar presentations of abdominal signs and symptoms recurring over a period of months or years.

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Objective: Computed tomography (CT) imaging is frequently obtained for recurrent abdominal pain after a prior emergency department (ED) evaluation. We evaluate the utility of repeat CT imaging following an indeterminate index CT in low-risk abdominal pain adult ED patients.

Methods: An electronic search was designed for the patient-intervention-control-outcome-timing (PICOT) question: (P) adult patients with low-risk, recurrent, and previously undifferentiated atraumatic abdominal pain presenting to the ED after an index-negative CT within 12 months; (I) repeat CT versus (C) no repeat CT; for (O) abdominal surgery or other invasive procedure, mortality, identification of potentially life-threatening diagnosis, and hospital and intensive care unit admission rates; and return ED visit (T), all within 30 days.

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Background: Recurrent abdominal pain in the emergency department (ED) might represent an opportunity for screening of depression and/or anxiety.

Methods: We systematically searched five databases for studies evaluating the effect of screening for depression and/or anxiety in ED patients with recurrent and undifferentiated abdominal pain. Given paucity of direct evidence, we also searched for indirect evidence including studies that assessed prevalence of depression and/or anxiety in EDs (not necessarily recurrent abdominal pain), diagnostic accuracy of screening tools, effectiveness of screening in other settings, and outcomes such as repeat ED visits of patients with abdominal pain who were screened in the ED.

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Head trauma (ie, head injury) is a significant public health concern and is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children and young adults. Neuroimaging plays an important role in the management of head and brain injury, which can be separated into acute (0-7 days), subacute (<3 months), then chronic (>3 months) phases. Over 75% of acute head trauma is classified as mild, of which over 75% have a normal Glasgow Coma Scale score of 15, therefore clinical practice guidelines universally recommend selective CT scanning in this patient population, which is often based on clinical decision rules.

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Seizures and epilepsy are a set of conditions that can be challenging to diagnose, treat, and manage. This document summarizes recommendations for imaging in different clinical scenarios for a patient presenting with seizures and epilepsy. MRI of the brain is usually appropriate for each clinical scenario described with the exception of known seizures and unchanged semiology (Variant 3).

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Background: Small-caliber chest tubes are used to treat pneumothorax and pleural fluid collections. Although commonly considered a less invasive alternative to large-caliber thoracostomy tubes, small-caliber tubes have a high complication rate. Emergency physicians must be familiar with common and dangerous procedure complications associated with these devices and have a systematic and rapid approach to identify and solve malfunctions.

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Background: Duplicated renal collecting system is a urological anomaly often found in pediatric patients. It is less commonly diagnosed in adulthood, particularly in a pregnant patient. Many point-of-care ultrasonography users may not be aware of this diagnosis, particularly in patients in the emergency department.

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Article Synopsis
  • 2D ultrasound is limited by the need for skilled operators, which can restrict its use in areas without expert sonographers.
  • Three-dimensional ultrasound technology may offer a solution by allowing for the reconstruction of any image plane after gathering the initial volume, enhancing accessibility and versatility.
  • The study assessed the accuracy of novice-acquired 3D images against expert-acquired 2D images in measuring key fetal parameters, testing the hypothesis that both novice and expert interpretations would yield similar results.
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Injuries to the cervical and thoracolumbar spine are commonly encountered in trauma patients presenting for treatment. Cervical spine injuries occur in 3% to 4% and thoracolumbar fractures in 4% to 7% of blunt trauma patients presenting to the emergency department. Clear, validated criteria exist for screening the cervical spine in blunt trauma.

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Acute changes in mental status represent a broad collection of symptoms used to describe disorders in mentation and level of arousal, including the more narrowly defined diagnoses of delirium and psychosis. A wide range of precipitating factors may be responsible for symptom onset including infection, intoxication, and metabolic disorders. Neurologic causes that may be detected on neuroimaging include stroke, traumatic brain injury, nonconvulsive seizure, central nervous system infection, tumors, hydrocephalus, and inflammatory disorders.

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The number of allopathic emergency medicine (EM) programs has been progressively increasing over the years. In 2018, allopathic EM postgraduate year-1 spots, compared with 2012, increased by around 60% to reach 2278 positions. EM is considered a competitive specialty and therefore, in this article we help guide students interested in EM through the allopathic match requirements, application process, interviews, and ranking EM programs.

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Ultrasound imaging has indications across many areas of medicine, but the need for training and the variability in skill and acquired image quality among 2-D ultrasound users have limited its wider adoption and utilization. Low-cost volumetric ultrasound with a known frame of reference has the potential to lower these operator-dependent barriers and enhance the clinical utility of ultrasound imaging. In this paper, we improve upon our previous research-scanner-based prototype to implement a versatile volumetric imaging platform for existing clinical 2-D ultrasound systems.

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