The San Francisco Syncope Rule (SFSR) aims to identify patients with syncope who are at risk for short-term serious adverse outcomes. It has been reported to have high sensitivity and the potential to decrease admission rates. The aim of this study was to validate the SFSR in the Australasian setting.

Our prospective, observational cohort study identified patients with syncope using emergency department (ED) databases. Data, including demographics, the presence of SFSR predictors and ED disposition, were collected either during ED stay or by explicit medical record review. Patients were followed up after 7 days for defined serious outcomes (i.e., death, myocardial infarction, arrhythmia, pulmonary embolism, stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, significant hemorrhage or unplanned ED re-presentation). We analyzed sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values. We compared the results with current physician-based clinical practice.

We studied 89 patients with a median age of 74 years. Of them, 42% were male and the admission rate was 39%. Ten patients (11%) suffered a serious event. The SFSR was 90% sensitive (95% confidence interval [CI] 60%–98%) and 57% specific (95% CI 46%–67%) for predicting patients with a defined serious adverse event. The SFSR also categorized 48% of patients as “high risk.” If the SFSR had been strictly applied, the admission rate would have increased by 9% and 1 serious adverse event would have been missed.

The SFSR demonstrated 90% sensitivity in this validation study. Strict application of the SFSR would have increased hospital admissions but would not have identified all adverse outcomes. In our setting, clinician judgement performed as well as the syncope rule, with a baseline admission rate of 36%.

To describe the current emergency department (ED) wait times and treatment characteristics of children with radial head subluxation (RHS).

We performed a 2-year retrospective medical record review (April 1, 2004, to March 31, 2006) of all children who presented to our tertiary care pediatric ED with a discharge diagnosis of RHS, pulled elbow, dislocated elbow or nursemaid's elbow.

We identified 501 cases of RHS in 427 children over a 2-year period. The mean age was 2.4 years (range 22 d–9.7 yr) and the injury was caused by a pull in 314 (62.8%) cases, a fall in 91 (18.2%) cases and a twist in 20 (4.0%) of the cases. The median time from triage to physician assessment was 1.3 hours, with 112 (23.5%) patients waiting > 2 hours and 33 (6.9%) waiting > 3 hours. The median time from triage to ED discharge was 1.7 hours, with 193 (41.2%) staying > 2 hours, 85 (18.1%) staying > 3 hours and 30 (6.4%) staying > 4 hours. Overall, 490 (99.2%) of these injuries were reduced in the ED: 98 (19.8%) were reduced prior to physician assessment and 309 (89.6%) were reduced on the first attempt. The technique used was pronation in 138 (52.7%), supination in 100 (38.2%), and pronation and supination in 24 (9.2%) cases.

This large cohort indicates that children with RHS often have long ED waits before reduction and discharge. The majority of children with RHS are treated successfully with 1 reduction attempt. The data from this study will be used in planning a prospective study to shorten ED visits for patients with RHS.

To identify the level of consensus among a group of Canadian emergency department (ED) experts on the importance of a set of indicators to document ED overcrowding.

A 2-round Delphi survey was conducted from February 2005 to April 2005, with a multi-disciplinary group of 38 Canadian experts in various aspects of ED operations who rated the relevance of 36 measures and ranked their relative importance as indicators of ED overcrowding.

The response rates for the first and second rounds were 84% and 87%, respectively. The most important indicator identified by the experts was the percentage of the ED occupied by in-patients (mean on a 7-point Likert-type scale 6.53, standard deviation [SD] 0.80). The other 9 indicators, in order of the importance attributed, were the total number of ED patients (mean 6.35, SD 0.75), the total time in the ED (mean 6.16, SD 1.04), the percentage of time that the ED was at or above capacity (mean 6.16, SD 1.08), the overall bed occupancy (mean 6.19, SD 0.93), the time from bed request to bed assignment (mean 6.06, SD 1.08), the time from triage to care (mean 5.84, SD 1.08) the physician satisfaction (mean 5.84, SD 1.22), the time from bed availability to ward transfer (mean 5.53, SD 1.72) and the number of staffed acute care beds (mean 5.53, SD 1.57).

Ten clinically important measures were prioritized by the participants as relevant indicators of ED overcrowding. Indicators derived from consensus techniques have face validity, but their metric properties must be tested to ensure their effectiveness for identifying ED overcrowding in different settings.

It has been suggested that continuity of care is hampered because of the lack of communication between emergency departments (EDs) and primary care providers. A web-based, standardized communication system (SCS) that enables family physicians (FPs) to visualize information regarding their patients' ED visits was developed. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of this SCS on continuity of care.

We conducted an open, 4-period crossover, cluster-randomized controlled trial of 23 FP practices. During the intervention phase, FPs received detailed reports via SCS, while in the control phase they received mailed copies of the ED notes. Continuity of care was evaluated with a web questionnaire completed by FPs 21 days after the ED visit. The primary measures of continuity of care were knowledge of ED visit (quality and quantity), patient management and follow-up rate.

We analyzed a total of 2022 ED visits (1048 intervention and 974 control). The intervention group received information regarding the ED visit more often (odds ratio [OR] 3.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.6–3.79), found the information more useful (OR 5.1, 95% CI 3.49–7.46), possessed a better knowledge of the ED visit (OR 6.28, 95% CI 5.12–7.71), felt they could better manage patients (OR 2.46, 95% CI 2.02–2.99) and initiated actions more often following receipt of information (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.36–1.93). However, there was no significant difference in the follow-up rate at FPs offices (OR 1.25, 95% CI 0.97–1.61).

The use of SCS between an ED and FPs led to significant improvements in continuity of care by increasing the usefulness of transferred information and by improving FPs' perceived patient knowledge and patient management.

Concern about youth violence in Canada is growing. Because victims of violence are more likely to become future violent perpetrators, preventative interventions are often based out of inpatient units; however, the question of how often youth who have been injured due to violence are discharged from emergency departments (EDs), or whether there are opportunities for emergency healthcare workers to deliver violence prevention programs, is not known. The primary objectives of this study were to describe the frequency and patterns of violent injuries among youth, to determine how many injured youth are discharged directly from EDs and to estimate the proportion of injured youth who may benefit from ED-based intervention programs.

We conducted an observational study using a population-based database that records information on all ED visits in Ontario. We analyzed age, sex, cause of injury and disposition for all patients aged 12–19 years who presented to Toronto EDs with violent injuries during a 2-year period (April 2002 to March 2004).

A total of 4100 patients aged 12–19 years visited Toronto EDs with violent injuries during the study period. Assault due to bodily force (in contrast to sharp objects, guns or other) was the most common injury mechanism, accounting for 48.7% of cases (95% confidence interval [CI] 47.1%–50.2%). The majority of patients (89.3%; 95% CI 88.3%–90.2%) were discharged directly from EDs, including 44% of gun-related injuries.

In Toronto, a large proportion (89.3%) of youth injured in violent incidents are discharged directly from EDs. There are opportunities to develop ED-based youth violence prevention initiatives.

Pneumonia is a well-known cause of acute abdominal pain in children. However, the utility of chest radiography in this setting is controversial. We sought to determine the prevalence of pneumonia in children under 12 years of age who had abdominal pain and underwent abdominal radiography when visiting an emergency department (ED). We also aimed to describe the signs and symptoms of children diagnosed with pneumonia in this context.

We conducted a retrospective analysis of electronic data from ED visits to a tertiary care centre by children 12 years of age and under who were seen between June 1, 2001, and June 30, 2003, and who underwent both an abdominal and a chest radiograph during the same visit, or an abdominal x-ray at a first visit as well as a chest x-ray in the 10 days following the initial visit.

Of 1584 visits studied, 30 cases of pneumonia were identified, for a prevalence of 1.89% (95% confidence interval 1.22%–1.56%). If chest radiography had been limited to children who presented with fever, cough and symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), the diagnosis of pneumonia would have been missed in only 2/1584 visits (0.13%).

Children aged 12 years and under presenting to the ED with acute abdominal pain and in whom an abdominal radiograph is requested need only undergo a chest radiograph in the presence of cough, fever or other symptoms of a URTI.

To compare the results of urine cultures and reagent strip testing in 2 groups of elderly emergency department (ED) patients: an asymptomatic group unlikely to have urinary tract infection (UTI), and a group who had vague symptoms and were considered at risk for UTI.

We performed a prospective observational convenience study with 2 groups of 100 patients aged 65 or older. The asymptomatic group consisted of afebrile patients presenting to the ED with non-infectious complaints, while the symptomatic group included patients presenting with acute confusion, weakness or fever but no apparent urinary symptoms. We defined a positive urine culture as a single organism count greater than 100 000 CFU/mL in mid-stream specimens, or greater than 1000 CFU/mL in catheter specimens. We considered reagent strips positive if they demonstrated any reaction to the leukocyte-esterase assay, the nitrite assay or both.

Of the 33 positive cultures, 10 had negative reagent strips. Thirteen of the 14 positive nitrite tests were culture positive for a specificity of 92.8% and a sensitivity of 36.1%. Positive cultures did not infer a diagnosis of UTI. Of the 67 positive reagent strips, 41 (61.2%) were associated with negative cultures. Likelihood ratios (LRs) in both groups affirmed the inability of the reagent strips to help significantly in decision making, with positive and negative LR in the indeterminate range (control group: 2.8 and 0.31, symptomatic group: 2.7 and 0.46, respectively).

In the elderly, reagent testing is an unreliable method of identifying patients with positive blood cultures. Moreover, positive urine culture rates are only slightly higher in patients with vague symptoms attributable to UTI than they are in (asymptomatic) patients treated for non-urologic problems, which suggests that many positive cultures in elderly patients with non-focal systemic symptoms are false-positive tests reflecting asymptomatic bacteriuria and not UTIs. Blood cultures, regarded by many as the criterion standard for UTI, do not have sufficient specificity to confirm the diagnosis of UTI in elderly patients with non-specific symptoms.

Emergency department (ED) manipulation of complete minimally angulated distal radius fractures in children may not be necessary, due to the excellent remodeling potential of these fractures.

The primary objective of this study was to determine the proportion of minimally angulated distal radius fractures managed in the ED with plaster immobilization that subsequently required manipulation. Our secondary objective was to document, at follow-up, changes in angulation for each wrist fracture.

This retrospective cohort study reviewed consecutive records of all children with bi-cortical minimally angulated (≤15° of angulation in the sagittal plane and ≤0.5 cm of displacement) distal metaphyseal radius fractures, alone or in combination with distal ulnar fracture. Details of treatment, radiographic findings, and clinical outcomes during the subsequent orthopedic follow up were recorded.

Of 124 patients included in the analysis, none required manipulation after their ED visit. All but 14 (11.3%) fractures were angulated ≤20° within the follow-up period. Two (1.6%) fractures that were initially angulated ≤15° progressed to 30°–35°, but remodeled within 2 years to nearly perfect anatomic alignment. By 6 weeks post-injury, no patients had clinically apparent deformity and all had normal function.

Minimally angulated fractures of the distal metaphyseal radius managed in plaster immobilization without reduction in the ED are unlikely to require future surgical intervention.

We evaluated the efficacy, safety and patient satisfaction with the use of propofol for procedural sedation and analgesia in the emergency department (ED).

All patients receiving propofol for procedural sedation and analgesia in the ED between December 1, 2003, and November 30, 2005, were prospectively assessed. Propofol was administered using a standardized protocol, which included an initial dose of 0.25–0.5 mg/kg followed by 10–20 mg/minute until sedated. Efficacy was evaluated using procedural success rate, recovery time and physician satisfaction. Adverse respiratory effects were defined as apnea for more than 30 seconds or an oxygen saturation of less than 90%. Hypotension was defined as systolic blood pressure < 90 mm Hg or > 20% decrease from baseline. Patient and physician satisfaction were determined using 5-point Likert scales.

Our study included 113 patients with a mean age of 50 (standard deviation [SD] 19) years; 62% were male. The most common procedures were orthopedic manipulation (44%), cardioversion (37%), and abscess incision and drainage (13%). The mean total propofol dose required was 1.6 (SD 0.9) mg/kg. Procedural success was achieved in 90% of cases and the mean patient recovery time was 7.6 (SD 3.4) minutes. No patient (0%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0%–3%) experienced apnea; however, 1 patient (1%, 95% CI 0%–5%) experienced emesis, which resulted in an oxygen saturation <90%. Nine patients (8%, 95% CI 4%–15%) experienced hypotension and 7 (6%, 95% CI 3%–12%) experienced pain on injection. All patients were very satisfied (92%, 95% CI 85%–96%) or satisfied (8%, 95% CI 4%–15%), and 94% (95% CI 88%–98%) reported no recollection of the procedure. The majority of physicians were very satisfied (85%, 95% CI 77%–91%) or satisfied (6%, 95% CI 3%–12%) with the sedation and the conditions achieved.

When administered as part of a standardized protocol, propofol appears to be a safe and effective agent for performing procedural sedation and analgesia in the ED, and is associated with high patient and physician satisfaction.