Recurring spontaneous aseptic pneumoperitoneum presenting secondary to an unrelated chief complaint: A case report.

Introduction: Pneumoperitoneum, observed by radiography, is typically associated with the perforation of hollow viscous. More than 90% of all cases of pneumoperitoneum are the result of a gastrointestinal tract perforation. These patients usually present with signs of acute peritonitis and require immediate surgical exploration and intervention.

An experienced physiotherapist prescribing and administering corticosteroid and local anaesthetic injections to the shoulder in an Australian orthopaedic service, a non-inferiority randomised controlled trial and economic analysis: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: The early management of orthopaedic outpatients by physiotherapists may be useful in reducing public hospital waiting lists. Physiotherapists in Australia are prevented by legislation and funding models from investigating, prescribing, injecting and referring autonomously. This gap in service is particularly noticeable in the management of shoulder pain in early-access physiotherapy services, as patients needing corticosteroid injection face delays or transfer to other services for this procedure.

Macrosomia in non-gestational diabetes pregnancy: glucose tolerance test characteristics and feto-maternal complications in tropical Asia Pacific Australia.

Objective: To look into the glucose tolerance test characteristics and determine complications in non-gestational diabetes pregnant subjects.

Methods: From 2006 to 2009 all non-gestational diabetes mellitus (non-GDM) pregnant women who delivered macrosomia at the North Australia's Townsville Hospital were retrospectively reviewed by extracting data from clinical record. Glucose tolerance tests results were analysed in the light of an earlier diagnosis of non-GDM.

Emergency department management of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and factors associated with hospitalization.

Background: Currently there is a paucity of information about biomarkers that can predict hospitalization for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). There is limited data on the consistency of ED management of AECOPD with local COPD guidelines. The aim of this study was to identify biomarkers associated with hospitalization in AECOPD patients and to determine if the ED management was concordant with local COPD guidelines.

Vertebrobasilar dissections: case series comparing patients with and without dissecting aneurysms.

Vertebrobasilar dissections are being increasingly diagnosed due to better awareness and increased availability of modern imaging techniques of the intracranial and extracranial arteries. The clinical presentation and outcome in patients with vertebrobasilar dissections may be complicated by dissecting aneurysms. The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the clinical profile of patients with vertebrobasilar dissections with and without dissecting aneurysms, and to determine predisposing factors to the development of aneurysms.

Expanding emergency department capacity: a multisite study.

Objectives: The aims of the present study were to identify predictors of admission and describe outcomes for patients who arrived via ambulance to three Australian public emergency departments (EDs), before and after the opening of 41 additional ED beds within the area.

Methods: The present study was a retrospective comparative cohort study using deterministically linked health data collected between 3 September 2006 and 2 September 2008. Data included ambulance offload delay, time to see doctor, ED length of stay (LOS), admission requirement, access block, hospital LOS and in-hospital mortality.

Tuboovarian abscess as primary presentation for imperforate hymen.

Objective. Imperforate hymen represents the extreme in the spectrum of hymenal embryological variations. The archetypal presentation in the adolescent patient is that of cyclical abdominopelvic pain in the presence of amenorrhoea.

Characteristics and process outcomes of patients presenting to an Australian emergency department for mental health and non-mental health diagnoses.

Objectives: To describe and compare characteristics and process outcomes of patient presentations made to a public hospital emergency department (ED) for mental health (MH) and non-mental health (NMH) diagnoses.

Methods: This was a descriptive, retrospective cross-sectional study of patients who presented to an Australian hospital ED between September 2011 and September 2012. Demographic, clinical and outcomes data were extracted from the ED information system.

A prospective evaluation of missed injuries in trauma patients, before and after formalising the trauma tertiary survey.

Objective: This study prospectively evaluated in-hospital and postdischarge missed injury rates in admitted trauma patients, before and after the formalisation of a trauma tertiary survey (TTS) procedure.

Methods: Prospective before-and-after cohort study. TTS were formalised in a single regional level II trauma hospital in November 2009.