The diagnosis and management of transient global amnesia in the emergency department.

Transient Global Amnesia (TGA) is a benign and temporary loss of anterograde memory with the preservation of remote memories and immediate recall. TGA was first described in 1956 and since then epilepsy, transient ischaemic attacks (TIA), migraine and now intracranial venous stasis have been implicated in its aetiology. Precipitants of TGA include physical exertion and valsalva-like manoeuvres.

Towards evidence-based emergency medicine: best BETs from the Manchester Royal Infirmary. Myringotomy in traumatic haemotympanum.

A short-cut review was carried out to establish whether myringotomy is of value in cases of haemotympanum. In all, 205 papers were found in Medline and 105 in Cochrane using the reported searches. None presented any evidence to answer the clinical question.

Best evidence topic report. Timing of lumbar puncture in suspected subarachnoid haemorrhage.

A short cut review was carried out to establish how long after onset of headache a lumbar puncture should be carried out to rule out subarachnoid haemorrhage. Altogether 142 papers were found using the reported search, of which one presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of this best paper are tabulated.

Best evidence topic report: endotracheal intubation in gamma-hydroxybutyric acid intoxication and overdose.

A short cut review was carried out to establish whether intubation is always required in patients presenting with a decreased conscious level after gamma-hydroxybutyrate ingestion. Altogether 95 papers were found using the reported search, of which two presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated.

Towards evidence based emergency medicine: best BETs from the Manchester Royal Infirmary. Tangential views or computed tomography in suspected depressed skull fracture.

A short cut review was carried out to establish whether CT scans are better than tangential skull radiographs at detecting depressed skull fractures. No papers answering this question were found using the reported search.

Towards evidence based emergency medicine: best BETs from the Manchester Royal Infirmary. Antibiotics after puncture wounds to the foot.

A short cut review was carried out to establish whether antibiotics reduce infective complications after puncture wounds to the foot. A total of 29 papers were found using the reported search, of which none answered the question posed. Further research is needed in this area.