Utilization and Safety of a Pulmonary Embolism Treatment Protocol in an Emergency Department Observation Unit.

Unlabelled: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common disease in emergency medicine and treatment approaches vary greatly. Emergency department observation units (EDOUs) have provided the opportunity to complete a PE workup, initiate treatment, and arrange appropriate follow-up for low-risk patients.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the utilization and safety of a treatment protocol for low-risk PE in an EDOU.

Sensitivity of newer-generation computed tomography scanners for subarachnoid hemorrhage: a Bayesian analysis.

Background: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a life-threatening condition considered in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with acute and severe-onset headache. Currently, the practice pattern for suspected SAH is to perform a non-contrasted computed tomography (CT) scan of the head, followed by lumbar puncture (LP) if the CT is negative. Newer-generation 16-slice CT scanners have been shown in one study to be very sensitive for SAH.