Do patients referred to emergency departments after being assessed in primary care differ from other ED patients? Retrospective analysis of a random sample from two German metropolitan EDs.

Background: To assess differences between patients referred to emergency departments by a primary care physician (PCP) and those presenting directly and the impact of referral on the likelihood of admission.

Design Of Study: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: EDs of two nonacademic general hospitals in a German metropolitan region.

Pharmacological treatment of constipation in palliative care.

Purpose Of Review: The prevalence of constipation in palliative care patients varies. There is uncertainty about the choice from varying recommendations for pharmacological management of constipation and a varying clinical practice in palliative care settings. The purpose of the review was to evaluate the current recommendations of therapy guidelines and to determine the effectiveness and safety of laxative administration for the management of constipation in palliative care patients.

Update on combined modalities for the management of breathlessness.

Purpose Of Review: Breathlessness is a symptom which is felt as shortness of breath or tightness in the chest. The symptom of breathlessness is essentially an awareness of difficult respiration; in other words, respiration becomes an effort. The increase due to pathological change supplements the effect of exercise.

Efficacy of lidocaine patch 5% in the treatment of focal peripheral neuropathic pain syndromes: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Peripheral neuropathic pain syndromes (PNPS) are difficult to treat because commonly used analgesics are often ineffective when, for example, touch-evoked allodynia, hyperalgesia, and pain paroxysms are present. To investigate whether lidocaine patch 5% treatment is also effective in postherpetic neuropathy (PHN) and in other PNPS, 40 patients with various forms and localizations of PNPS completed a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, two-way, cross-over study in three medical hospitals. Patients suffering from pain in a localized skin area with intensity above 40 mm visual analog scale (VAS) and a stable consumption of pain medication were included in this study.