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Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning often is overlooked in the ED, in part because symptoms are similar to the flu, but very few EDs screen patients for this condition, says Selim Suner, MD, MS, associate professor of emergency medicine, surgery, and engineering at Brown University and director of disaster medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Rhode Island Hospital, both in Providence.
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"The pain was gone, and she said yes, she had gotten a little sweaty during this, 'but doesn't everyone sweat when vacuuming?'" says Joan Somes, PhD, MSN, RN, CEN, FAEN, ED educator at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul, MN. "Fortunately, my guardian angel told me to get an EKG [electrocardiogram] that day.
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A color-coded scale is effective at pain assessment in pediatric patients, says a new study that looked at 126 children between 5 and 12 years old presenting to a pediatric ED with acute pain.
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Even with rapid diagnosis and initiation of treatment, bacterial meningitis continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in adult patients. Mortality rates for this neurological emergency vary between 13% and 27%, even with adequate and timely antibiotic therapy.
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Many pregnant patients ask whether it is bad to exercise regularly and vigorously, while others ask whether exercising in any way helps to improve outcome. These questions were addressed in a recent publication in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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Being pregnant puts patients in a special category where, seemingly, everything they put in their mouths, even some foods, has some risk to the fetus.
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Cuppone and colleagues primarily from the Regina Elena National Cancer Institute in Rome, Italy, performed a meta-analysis of randomized trials comparing aromatase inhibitors with tamoxifen in early breast cancer, focusing on cardiovascular risk.
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The authors set out to determine the preventive services and counseling provided by gynecologists, general medical physicians, or both. Using the 2000 National Health Interview Survey, the study population included women aged 18-64 years of age (with regard to Pap smear, use of tobacco, and exercise/diet counseling) and women in the 50-64 age group (previous parameters plus breast examinations, mammograms, and colon cancer screening). Sixty-two percent of patients were seen by gynecologists, 15% by general medical physicians, and 23% by both.
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