Objectives Emergency department (ED) crowding is an increasing problem in many countries. The purpose of this study was to develop a quantitative model that estimates the degree of crowding based on workload in Swedish EDs. Methods At five different EDs, the head nurse and physician assessed the workload on a scale from 1 to 6…
Objectives Despite a lack of scientific evidence, oxygen has long been a part of standard treatment for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, several studies suggest that oxygen therapy may have negative cardiovascular effects. We here describe a randomized controlled trial, i.e. Supplemental Oxygen in Catheterized Coronary Emergency Reperfusion (SOCCER), aiming to evaluate the…
The SOCCER trial addresses a significant knowledge gap in the routine care of patients with AMI. Even though oxygen therapy is part of standard care, oxygen may not be beneficial to these patients, and possibly even harmful. The results of the present and concurrent oxygen trials may thus change international treatment guidelines for patients with…
![The ABC of Vertigo at the Emergency Department [Swedish]](https://ardavan.se/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/LT9.jpg)
The majority of patients who present to the Emergency Department with vertigo suffer from benign conditions. However, a few percent of these patients have life-threatening conditions, such as a cerebellar stroke. The HINTS clinical decision rule (Head-Impulse test, Nystagmus, Test-of-Skew) allows the physician to identify patients with an acute vestibular syndrome of central origin. HINTS…
![The Correlation Between Socioeconomic Status and Crime is Weak [Swedish]](https://ardavan.se/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/LKT1448_312px.jpg)
Socioeconomic status is probably not strongly associated with crime and criminality.
![Checklists and »crowdsourcing« for Increased Patient Safety in the Emergency Department [Swedish]](https://ardavan.se/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/LKT14_11_312px.jpg)
Checklists make it easier to do the right thing in the emergency room. That’s the idea behind a website launched this month. It will contain proposals for checklists on what information should be obtained for the assessment of different conditions at the emergency department. All emergency personnel are invited to participate in this development project.
![Reply: Rectal Palpation Should of course Be Performed in Some Cases [Swedish]](https://ardavan.se/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/LKT14_08_312px.jpg)
Although there are no evidence for routine rectal palpation in patients with acute abdomen, there are other cases in which rectal palpation should be performed.
![Routine Rectal Palpation in Acute Abdomen has no Proven Value: A Review of the Literature [Swedish]](https://ardavan.se/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/LT3-4.jpg)
A digital rectal examination (DRE) is standard practice in cases of acute abdomen in adult patients. We analyzed the evidence for this by a systematic literature search, and identified 16 relevant original studies. These studies showed that there is no evidence for a diagnostic value of DRE in adult patients with acute abdomen. We should…
![Shorten the Medical Education [Swedish]](https://ardavan.se/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/lt36.png)
An article on why the medical education should be shortened.