Evidence-Based Emergency Care: Diagnostic Testing and Clinical Decision Rules

by Jesse M. Pines (Associate Professor, Department of Medicine and Public Health, George Washington University ); Worth W. Everett (Worth Everett, MD FACEP Assistant Medical Director, Dept EM Skagit Valley Hospital Mount Vernon, WA North

• ISBN13: 9781444300789
• ISBN10: 1444300784
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2009-01-01
• Publisher: BMJ Books

Summary

This useful handbook provides a concise compilation of the evidence supporting diagnostic testing and clinical decision rules in emergency care. Clinical decision rules are now widely recognised as best practice for the ordering of diagnostic tests in the emergency department. Aimed at all physicians working with emergency and acute patients, the book begins with an overview of how to evaluate a diagnostic test using an evidence-based approach, followed by an explanation of the clinical decision rules and the methods of assessing the strength and applicability of the clinical prediction rule. These introductory chapters are followed by sections covering the following clinical areas: * Traumatic Injuries * Cardiology * Infectious Disease * Surgical and Abdominal Complaints * Urology * Neurology * Ophthalmology, Hematology, Rheumatology * Pulmonology. For each test and clinical decision rule, the most current and best available studies in the literature are discussed and applied to emergency department and acute care patients in addressing the question at hand, followed by an overall recommendation on how to use the test or rule in the clinical context. Evidence-Based Emergency Care is an accessible and extremely useful reference for physicians at all levels to use in applying an evidence-based approach to ordering and interpreting tests in an acute care environment.

Table of Contents

Preface

Foreword

About the Authors

The Science of Diagnostic Testing and Clinical Decision Rules

Diagnostic Testing in Emergency Care

Evidence-Based Medicine: the Process

The Epidemiology and Statistics of Diagnostic Testing

Clinical Decision Rules

Traumatic Injuries

Cervical Spine Fractures

Cervical Spine Fractures in Older Adults

Cervical Spine Fractures in Children

Blunt Abdominal Trauma

Acute Knee Injuries

Blunt Head Injury

Blunt Head Trauma in Children

Acute Ankle and Foot Injuries

Occult Scaphoid Fractures

Blunt Chest Trauma

Occult Hip Fracture

Cardiology

Heart Failure

Syncope

Acute Coronary Syndrome

Infectious Disease

Serious Bacterial Infections and Occult Bacteremia in Children

Bacterial Meningitis in Children

Necrotizing Fasciitis

Pharyngitis

Infective Endocarditis

Urinary Tract Infection

Sinusitis

Pneumonia

Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis

Surgical and Abdominal Complaints

Acute Nonspecific, Nontraumatic Abdominal Pain

Bowel Obstruction

Acute Pancreatitis

Acute Appendicitis

Acute Cholecystitis

Urology

Kidney Stones

Testicular Torsion

Neurology

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Acute Stroke

Miscellaneous: Ophthalmology, Hematology, Rheumatology, and Pulmonology

Pulmonary Embolism and Deep Vein Thrombosis

Temporal Arteritis

Intraocular Pressure

Asthma

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.