Evidence-Based Emergency Care

About the Editors x
 
List of Contributors xiii
 
Foreword xvi
 
Acknowledgments xviii
 
Section 1: The Science of Diagnostic Testing and Clinical Decision Rules
 
1 Diagnostic Testing in Emergency Care 3
 
2 Evidence- Based Medicine: The Process 14
 
3 The Epidemiology and Statistics of Diagnostic Testing 23
 
4 Clinical Decision Rules 43
 
5 Appropriate Testing in an Era of Limited Resources: Practice and Policy Consideration 53
 
6 Understanding Bias in Diagnostic Research 73
 
Section 2: Trauma
 
7 Cervical Spine Fractures 95
 
8 Blunt Abdominal Trauma 121
 
9 Acute Knee Injuries 128
 
10 Acute Ankle and Foot Injuries 134
 
11 Blunt Head Injury in Children 141
 
12 Adult Blunt Head Injury 162
 
13 Chest Trauma 174
 
14 Occult Hip Fracture 182
 
15 Blunt Soft Tissue Neck Trauma 189
 
16 Occult Scaphoid Fractures 195
 
17 Penetrating Abdominal Trauma 205
 
18 Penetrating Trauma to the Extremities and Vascular Injuries 214
 
Section 3: Cardiology
 
19 Heart Failure 227
 
20 Syncope 237
 
21 Chest Pain 256
 
22 Palpitations 276
 
Section 4: Infectious Disease
 
23 Bacterial Meningitis in Children 291
 
24 Serious Bacterial Infections in Children Aged 0 to 60/90 Days 299
 
25 Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infection 309
 
26 Infective Endocarditis 321
 
27 Pharyngitis 327
 
28 Rhinosinusitis 335
 
29 Pneumonia 340
 
30 Urinary Tract Infection 353
 
31 Sepsis 360
 
32 Adult Septic Arthritis 377
 
33 Osteomyelitis 388
 
34 Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) 401
 
35 Influenza 409
 
36 Fever without a Source 3-36 Months 416
 
Section 5: Surgical and Abdominal Complaints
 
37 Acute Nonspecific Nontraumatic Abdominal Pain 425
 
38 Small Bowel Obstruction

Edited by
 
Jesse M. Pines, MD, MBA, MSCE is the National Director of Clinical Innovation at US Acute Care Solutions and a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Drexel University. He is board-certified in emergency medicine.
 
Fernanda Bellolio, MD, MSc is the Chair for Research and a Professor of Emergency Medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Mayo Clinic. She is board-certified in emergency medicine.
 
Christopher R. Carpenter, MD, MSc is the Director of Evidence Based Medicine and a Professor of Emergency Medicine in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Barnes Jewish Hospital at Washington University. He is board-certified in emergency medicine.
 
Ali S. Raja, MD, MBA, MPH is Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is board-certified in emergency medicine and clinical informatics.