This bulletin is brought to you by the Knowledge and Information Service. It aims to keep you up-to-date with issues related to A&E. At the beginning of each month, a librarian will update the bulletin with relevant information published in the preceding month. If there are areas you think we also need to cover, please let us know.
Emergency admissions: a journey in the right direction?
National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) has assessed organisational and clinical aspects of both the immediate and ongoing care of patients admitted as emergencies and detailed its findings in this report.
Guidelines on the insertion and management of central venous access devices in adults
The British Committee for Standards in Haematology has issued new guidance on the use of central venous access devices.
NLH Emergency Care Specialist Library - recent additions:
The Reorganisation of Emergency Services (England)
The BAEM published a position statement on the recent reorganisation of emergency services in England. It states that all hospitals with an Emergency Department must have 24 hour on site: doctors skilled in critical care and intensive care facilities; acute medicine senior doctors and sufficient bed numbers; imaging including CT scanning; laboratory services including blood bank.
Urgent care centres in hospitals
The College of Emergency Medicine states its position on PCTs’ desire to set up urgent day centres in hospitals. The College feels that this will confuse patients and urges that Urgent Care Centres be renamed, Primary Care Centres instead.
BestBETS – Best Evidence Topics completed in October
Computerized Tomography for Small Bowel Obstruction
Should critically ill patients be routinely transfused to a normal haemoglobin level?
In neonates requiring intravascular volume resuscitation is use of Gelofusine safe and efficacious?
Epinephrine in digital nerve block
Is ED-based brief intervention worthwhile in adults presenting with alcohol-related events?
Can tissue adhesives and glues significantly reduce the incidence and length of postoperative air leaks in patients having lung resections?
Should the tricuspid valve be replaced with a mechanical or biological valve?
Are bronchoscopic approaches to post-pneumonectomy bronchopleural fistula an effective alternative to repeat thoracotomy?
Should vacuum-assisted closure therapy be routinely used for management of deep sternal wound infection after cardiac surgery?
Does clopidogrel rather than aspirin plus a proton-pump inhibitor reduce the frequency of gastrointestinal complications after cardiac surgery?
After CABG surgery does enteric-coated aspirin result in a lower incidence of gastrointestinal complications compared to normal aspirin?
Recurrent tinea versicolor: treatment with itraconazole or fluconazole?
