Pulse oximetry and decision-making on hospitalization Key point: Use of pulse oximetry to decide on necessity of hospitalization may need to be reconsidered. Citation: Schuh, S, Freedman S, Coates A. et al. Effect of oximetry on hospitalization in bronchiolitis, JAMA. 2014; 312(7):712-718. Pulse oximetry has been used to help decide when an infant with bronchiolitis should be hospitalized. The authors of this study postulated that providers may be relying too heavily on it, resulting in …
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December 2014
Abstracts in Urgent Care: November, 2014
Generic medication appearance Key point: When providing generic prescriptions, warn patients about generic medication colors and shapes. Citation: Kesselheim AS, Bykov K, Avorn J, et al. Burden of changes in pill appearance for patients receiving generic cardiovascular medications after myocardial infarction: Cohort and nested case–control studies. Ann Intern Med. 2014; 161:96-103. Researchers in this study attempted to determine if changes in color or shape of a generic drug led to discontinuation of that drug. Patients …
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October 2014
Abstracts in Urgent Care: October, 2014
Timing of concussion symptoms Key point: Symptoms of concussion such as sleep disturbance, forgetfulness, and fatigue are late in onset. Citation: Eisenberg MA, Meehan WP 3rd, Mannix R. Duration and course of post-concussive symptoms. Pediatrics. 2014;133(6):999-1006. Estimates of the duration of concussion symptoms in children vary from 1 week to months. This study looks at previous cohorts where the median time to recovery was 13 days and considers symptoms, their duration, and clinical course. The …
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September 2014
Abstracts in Urgent Care: September, 2014
Abstracts in Urgent Care: July/August, 2014
Clinical prediction rule for ureteral stones Key point: A new clinical score may predict the presence of uncomplicated ureteral stones and reduce the need for CT scan. Citation: Moore CL, Bomann S, Daniels B, et al. Derivation and validation of a clinical prediction rule for uncomplicated ureteral stone—the STONE score: Retrospective and prospective observational cohort studies. BMJ. 2014; 348:g2191. In this two-phase trial, five factors were identified and then prospectively validated for prediction of ureteral …
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July/August 2014
Abstracts in Urgent Care: May, 2014
Signs of aging and risk of heart disease Key point: Some outward signs of aging may correlate with increased risk of heart disease including MI. Citation: Christoffersen M, Frikke-Schmidt R, Schnohr P, et al. Visible age-related signs and risk of ischemic heart disease in the general population: A prospective cohort study. Circulation. 2014;4l128(9):990-998. Investigators in Denmark in this 35-year prospective trial attempted to see if outward signs of aging (frontoparietal baldness, crown top baldness, earlobe crease, …
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