Sean M. McNeeley, MD Azithromycin May Not Be Helpful for Asthma Key point: There is no proven benefit from taking azithromycin for asthma. Citation: Johnston SL, Szigeti M, Cross M, et al; AZALEA Trial Team. Azithromycin for acute exacerbations of asthma: the AZALEA randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176:1630–1637. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial reported here focused on treatment for 3 days for 199 adults with asthma exacerbations. One group received 500 mg of …
Read MoreAbstracts In Urgent Care – November 2016
Sean M. McNeely, MD
Read MoreAbstracts in Urgent Care – October 2016
Watching for the Female Athlete Triad Key point: Understanding the female athlete triad is the best way to identify it. Citation: Weiss Kelly AK, Hecht S; Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness. The female athlete triad. Pediatrics. 2016;138:e20160922. The female athlete triad continues to be better understood over time. As more females participate at higher levels of competition this disorder must be considered. The report’s authors note that the triad of amenorrhea, osteoporosis, and disordered …
Read MoreAbstracts in Urgent Care – September 2016
SEAN M. McNEELEY, MD The American College of Gastroenterology Publishes New Guidelines for Treating Diarrheal Disease Key point: New guidelines on treating diarrheal disease are available from the American College of Gastroenterology. Citation: Riddle MS, DuPont HL, Connor BA. ACG clinical guideline: diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of acute diarrheal infections in adults. Am J Gastroenterol. 2016;111:602–622. The authors of this report note that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 47.8 million cases of …
Read MoreAbstracts In Urgent Care – July 2016
SEAN M. McNEELEY, MD Dexamethasone May Be Worthwhile in Treating Adult Asthma Key point: Dexamethasone is almost as good as prednisone in treating asthma in adults. Citation: Rehrer MW, Liu B, Rodriguez M, et al. A randomized controlled noninferiority trial of single dose of oral dexa- methasone versus 5 days of oral prednisone in acute adult asthma. Ann Emerg Med. 2016 April 22. doi: 10.1016/ j.annemergmed.2016.03.017. [Epub ahead of print.] In a randomized placebo-controlled trial …
Read MoreAbstracts In Urgent Care – June 2016
SEAN M. McNEELEY, MD Longer-Term Antibiotic Treatment and Persistent Lyme Disease Symptoms Key point: Longer therapy for Lyme disease is not helpful. Citation: Berende A, ter Hofstede HJ, Vos FJ, et al. Randomized trial of longer-term therapy for symptoms attributed to Lyme disease. N Engl J Med. 2016;374:1209–1220. Lyme disease continues to be in the news because persistent symptoms after infection are of great concern. In a double- blind, placebo-controlled study, researchers gave antibiotics for …
Read MoreAbstracts in Urgent Care – May 2016
SEAN M. McNEELEY, MD Results Unavailable for 71% of Trials Key point: Many research findings are not easily available to clinicians. Citation: Chen Ruijun, Desai NR, Ross JS, et al. Publication and reporting of clinical trial results: cross sectional analyis across academic medical centers BMJ. 2016;352:i637. Researchers investigated the amount of clinical trial findings at academic medical centers that are not published and thus not easily available to clinicians. In a cross-sectional analysis of academic …
Read MoreAbstracts in Urgent Care: April, 2016
SEAN M. McNEELEY, MD Copeptin and Troponin Together Are Useful in Diagnosing Acute Coronary Syndromes Key point: There is a new tool for ruling out myocardial infarction. Citation: Ricci F, Di Scala R, Massacesi C, et al. Ultra-sensitive copeptin and cardiac troponin in diagnosing non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes—the COPACS Study. Am J Med. 2016;129:105–114. Concern about patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction with chest pain and normal electrocardiogram (ECG) findings frequently causes a transfer …
Read MoreAbstracts in Urgent Care: March, 2016
SEAN M. McNEELEY, MD Inhaled Steroids Do Not Reduce Growth in Children with Asthma Key point: Inhaled steroids did not reduce growth velocity in a 1-year study. Citation: Wardenier NR, Klok T, de Groot EP, Brand PL. Height growth in children with asthma treated with guidelinerecommended dosages of fluticasone and electronically assessed adherence. Arch Dis Child. 2015 December 7. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2015-309654. Adherence to therapy is important for children with asthma. Many factors, including fear of …
Read MoreAbstracts in Urgent Care: February, 2016
SEAN M. McNEELEY, MD Azithromycin Versus Doxycycline for Chlamydia Key point: Azithromycin is a little less effective than doxycycline for chlamydia. Citation: Geisler WM, Uniyal A, Lee JY, et al. Azithromycin versus doxycycline for urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis infection. N Engl J Med. 2015;373:2512–2521. This study of a population in a youth correctional facility compared the effectiveness of azithromycin with doxycycline in the treatment of chlamydia. A total of 567 participants were randomized to regimens of …
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