Vasopressin Not Helpful for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Key point: For now, epinephrine remains the only evidence- based drug option in CPR. Citation: Gueugniaud P-Y, David J-S, Chanzy E, et al. Vasopressin and epinephrine vs. epinephrine alone in cardiopulmonary re- suscitation. N Engl J Med. 2008;359:21-30. The ideal drug regimen for use in CPR is a subject of controversy. Epinephrine is the recommended vasopressor agent, but results of some studies suggest that combining epinephrine with vasopressin …
Read MoreAbstracts in Urgent Care: July/August, 2008
It’s not Easy for ED Patients to Get Follow-Up Care Key point: Only 23% of attempts to schedule an outpatient follow-up appointment were successful in this study of callers posing as ED patients without primary care physicians. Citation: Vieth TL, Rhodes KV. Nonprice barriers to ambulatory care after an emergency department visit. Ann Emerg Med. 2008;51(5):607-613. Almost half of emergency department patients are dis- charged with instructions to follow up with an outpatient clinic or …
Read MoreAbstracts In Urgent Care: June, 2008
Prevalence of UTI in Children Key point: Prevalence is highest in infants younger than  3 months, girls with fever,  and uncircumcised boys. Citation: Shaikh N, Morone NE, Bost JE, et al. Prevalence of uri- nary tract infection in childhood: A meta-analysis. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2008; 27:302-308. During the past decade, many studies have assessed the preva- lence of urinary tract infection (UTI) in children with fever. In- vestigators conducted a meta-analysis of data from …
Read MoreAbstracts In Urgent Care: May, 2008
Duration of IV Antibiotic Treatment for Children with Pyelonephritis Key point: Rates of renal scarring were similar in children who received long- or short-course IV antibiotics. Citation: Bouissou F, Munzer C, Decramer S, et al. Prospec- tive, randomized trial comparing short and long intravenous antibiotic treatment of acute pyelonephritis in children: Dimercaptosuccinic acid scintigraphic evaluation at 9 months. Pediatrics. 2008;121:e553-e560. Whether the mode and duration of antibiotic treatment prevent development of renal scars in children …
Read MoreAbstracts in Urgent Care: May 2008
Abstracts in Urgent Care: April, 2008
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs for Low-Back Pain (Review) Key point: NSAIDS are more effective than placebo, are all similar in efficacy, and do have significant side effects. COX- 2 seems to have fewer side effects; however, the recent data on CV side effects is a concern. Citation: Roelofs PDDM, Deyo RA, Koes BW, et al. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD000396. Â DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD000396.pub3. The authors searched the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases …
Read MoreAbstracts In Urgent Care: February, 2008
Over the Counter but No Longer Under the Radar—Pediatric Cough and Cold Medications Key point: Since 1985, all six controlled studies of cough/cold preparations in children have not shown a positive effect. Over the last 7 years, poison-control centers have reported more than 750,000 calls Citation: Sharfstein JM, North M, Serwint JR. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(23):2321-2324. In recent weeks, over-the-counter cough and cold medications for children have received unprecedented attention from reg- ulators, physicians, …
Read MoreAbstracts In Urgent Care: January, 2008
NEJM Article Blames CT-Related Radiation for Up to 2% of Cancers in U.S. Key point: The growth of medical CT utilization may be re- sponsible for 1.5% to 2% of cancer cases in the U.S. Citation: Brenner DJ, Hall EJ. N Engl J Med. 2007;357:2277- 2284. A New England Journal of Medicine review article published recently targets the cancer risks of CT at the same time that hundreds of scientific presentations and new products at …
Read MoreAbstracts in Urgent Care: January, 2007
Modes of Administration of Antibiotics for Symptomatic Severe Urinary Tract Infections Key point: There is no evidence suggesting that oral antibiotic therapy is less effective for treatment of severe UTI than parenteral or initial parenteral therapy. Citation: Pohl A. Modes of administration of antibiotics for symptomatic severe urinary tract infections. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2007, Issue 4. Urinary tract infection, worldwide, is a major source of disease in children and adults. Although standard management …
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