Procedure rates performed by emergency medicine residents: a retrospective review.

Background: The purpose of our study is to investigate rates of individual procedures performed by residents in our emergency medicine (EM) residency program. Different programs expose residents to different training environments. Our hypothesis is that ultrasound examinations are the most commonly performed procedure in our residency.

Steroids for migraine headaches: a randomized double-blind, two-armed, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Recurrence of migraine headache after treatment in the emergency department (ED) is common. Conflicting evidence exists regarding the utility of steroids in preventing migraine headache recurrence at 24-48 h.

Objective: To determine if steroids decrease the headache recurrence in patients treated for migraine headaches in the ED.

Do patients with recurrent headaches attempt abortive therapy before their emergency department visit?

Headache is one of the most frequent symptoms prompting an emergency department (ED) visit. For many patients this is an exacerbation of a recurrent or chronic headache pattern. Our objective in this study was to determine if ED patients with recurrent headaches attempt abortive analgesics before seeking ED care.

Canadian Headache Society criteria for the diagnosis of acute migraine headache in the ED--do our patients meet these criteria?

Introduction: We previously reported that many patients who present to the ED with "migraine" headache do not meet the International Headache Society criteria (IHSC) for the diagnosis of acute migraine. Objective The aim of the study was to compare the frequency for which ED patients with migraine headache meet the Canadian Headache Society criteria (CHSC) vs the IHSC.

Methods: This was a prospective, observational study, performed at a community ED.

Do ED patients with migraine headaches meet internationally accepted criteria?

A recent editorial criticized emergency medicine researchers who study the treatment of acute migraine for failing to standardize patients according to definitions provided by the International Headache Society (IHS). In fact, most emergency medicine-based studies of migraine therapies have not used IHS Criteria (IHSC) for patient inclusion and are not uniform in the definition of acute migraine. The purpose of this study was to determine the percentage of patients with complaint of headache who present to the emergency department with a prior diagnosis of migraine and/or emergency department discharge diagnosis of acute migraine that meet IHSC.