Procedural sedation and analgesia in the emergency department.

Purpose Of Review: Procedural sedation and analgesia is frequently administered outside of the operating room in emergency departments (EDs) and ICUs. Evidence was sought concerning patients' safety in the ED.

Recent Findings: Procedural sedation, when administered in the ED by trained personnel, is safe.

Comparison of nitrile gloves and nitrile over Nomex gloves.

Objectives: Aeromedical flight crews must perform many tasks in flight requiring manual dexterity and fine precision. A common perception is that safety-enhancing fire-retardant gloves compromise patient care if worn during such tasks by providing added bulk and barrier to the hand. This study is a quantitative and qualitative analysis of this possible compromise to patient care.

Comparison of use of the the Airtraq with direct laryngoscopy by paramedics in the simulated airway.

Introduction: Paramedics often encounter patients with difficult airways requiring emergent airway management.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare intubation utilizing the Airtraq with direct laryngoscopy (DL) in the manikin model. We evaluated the number of attempts, the time to successful intubation, and the Airtraq's learning curve.

Sedation in the emergency department.

Purpose Of Review: The recent year's literature is reviewed concerning the use of sedation in the emergency department. The use of moderate to deep sedation is becoming common in emergency medicine for many reasons, including progressive hospital crowding, limited availability of anesthesia, and increased training in residency. This is performed for a wide variety of procedures, most commonly orthopedic.

Pearls and pitfalls in the emergency department evaluation of abdominal pain.

Abdominal pain is a common complaint in the emergency department (ED), comprising approximately 5% of total visits. Although not typically serious, abdominal pain often presents many difficult situations for the clinician. Women of reproductive age and elderly individuals represent some of the most challenging patients to evaluate.