Noninvasive Ventilation for Preoxygenation during Emergency Intubation.

BACKGROUND: Among critically ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation, hypoxemia increases the risk of cardiac arrest and death. The effect of preoxygenation with noninvasive ventilation, as compared with preoxygenation with an oxygen mask, on the incidence of hypoxemia during tracheal intubation is uncertain. METHODS: In a multicenter, randomized trial conducted at 24 emergency departments and intensive care units in the United States, we randomly assigned critically ill adults (age, ≥18 years) undergoing tracheal intubation to receive preoxygenation with either noninvasive ventilation or an oxygen mask. The primary outcome was hypoxemia during intubation, defined by an oxygen saturation of less than 85% during the interval between induction of anesthesia and 2 minutes after tracheal intubation. RESULTS: Among the 1301 patients enrolled, hypoxemia occurred in 57 of 624 patients (9.1%) in the noninvasive-ventilation group and in 118 of 637 patients (18.5%) in the oxygen-mask group (difference, -9.4 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -13.2 to -5.6; P<0.001). Cardiac arrest occurred in 1 patient (0.2%) in the noninvasive-ventilation group and in 7 patients (1.1%) in the oxygen-mask group (difference, -0.9 percentage points; 95% CI, -1.8 to -0.1). Aspiration occurred in 6 patients (0.9%) in the noninvasive-ventilation group and in 9 patients (1.4%) in the oxygen-mask group (difference, -0.4 percentage points; 95% CI, -1.6 to 0.7). CONCLUSIONS: Among critically ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation, preoxygenation with noninvasive ventilation resulted in a lower incidence of hypoxemia during intubation than preoxygenation with an oxygen mask. (Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense; PREOXI ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT05267652.).

Video versus Direct Laryngoscopy for Tracheal Intubation of Critically Ill Adults.

BACKGROUND: Whether video laryngoscopy as compared with direct laryngoscopy increases the likelihood of successful tracheal intubation on the first attempt among critically ill adults is uncertain. METHODS: In a multicenter, randomized trial conducted at 17 emergency departments and intensive care units (ICUs), we randomly assigned critically ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation to the video-laryngoscope group or the direct-laryngoscope group. The primary outcome was successful intubation on the first attempt. The secondary outcome was the occurrence of severe complications during intubation; severe complications were defined as severe hypoxemia, severe hypotension, new or increased vasopressor use, cardiac arrest, or death. RESULTS: The trial was stopped for efficacy at the time of the single preplanned interim analysis. Among 1417 patients who were included in the final analysis (91.5% of whom underwent intubation that was performed by an emergency medicine resident or a critical care fellow), successful intubation on the first attempt occurred in 600 of the 705 patients (85.1%) in the video-laryngoscope group and in 504 of the 712 patients (70.8%) in the direct-laryngoscope group (absolute risk difference, 14.3 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], 9.9 to 18.7; P<0.001). A total of 151 patients (21.4%) in the video-laryngoscope group and 149 patients (20.9%) in the direct-laryngoscope group had a severe complication during intubation (absolute risk difference, 0.5 percentage points; 95% CI, -3.9 to 4.9). Safety outcomes, including esophageal intubation, injury to the teeth, and aspiration, were similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Among critically ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation in an emergency department or ICU, the use of a video laryngoscope resulted in a higher incidence of successful intubation on the first attempt than the use of a direct laryngoscope. (Funded by the U.S. Department of Defense; DEVICE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT05239195.).

Cost-Effectiveness of HIV Screening in Emergency Departments: Results From the Pragmatic Randomized HIV Testing Using Enhanced Screening Techniques in Emergency Departments Trial.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Identification of HIV remains a critical health priority for which emergency departments (EDs) are a central focus. The comparative cost-effectiveness of various HIV screening strategies in EDs remains largely unknown. The goal of this study was to compare programmatic costs and cost-effectiveness of nontargeted and 2 forms of targeted opt-out HIV screening in EDs using results from a multicenter, pragmatic randomized clinical trial. METHODS: This economic evaluation was nested in the HIV Testing Using Enhanced Screening Techniques in Emergency Departments (TESTED) trial, a multicenter pragmatic clinical trial of different ED-based HIV screening strategies conducted from April 2014 through January 2016. Patients aged 16 years or older, with normal mental status and not critically ill, or not known to be living with HIV were randomized to 1 of 3 HIV opt-out screening approaches, including nontargeted, enhanced targeted, or traditional targeted, across 4 urban EDs in the United States. Each screening method was fully integrated into routine emergency care. Direct programmatic costs were determined using actual trial results, and time-motion assessment was used to estimate personnel activity costs. The primary outcome was newly diagnosed HIV. Total annualized ED programmatic costs by screening approach were calculated using dollars adjusted to 2023 as were costs per patient newly diagnosed with HIV. One-way and multiway sensitivity analyses were performed. RESULTS: The trial randomized 76,561 patient visits, resulting in 14,405 completed HIV tests, and 24 (0.2%) new diagnoses. Total annualized new diagnoses were 12.9, and total annualized costs for nontargeted, enhanced targeted, and traditional targeted screening were $111,861, $88,629, and $70,599, respectively. Within screening methods, costs per new HIV diagnoses were $20,809, $23,554, and $18,762, respectively. Enhanced targeted screening incurred higher costs but with similar annualized new cases detected compared with traditional targeted screening. Nontargeted screening yielded an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $25,586 when compared with traditional targeted screening. Results were most sensitive to HIV prevalence and costs of HIV tests. CONCLUSION: Nontargeted HIV screening was more costly than targeted screening largely due to an increased number of HIV tests performed. Each HIV screening strategy had similar within-strategy costs per new HIV diagnosis with traditional targeted screening yielding the lowest cost per new diagnosis. For settings with budget constraints or very low HIV prevalences, the traditional targeted approach may be preferred; however, given only a slightly higher cost per new HIV diagnosis, ED settings looking to detect the most new cases may prefer nontargeted screening.

Individualized Treatment Effects of Bougie versus Stylet for Tracheal Intubation in Critical Illness.

Rationale: A recent randomized trial found that using a bougie did not increase the incidence of successful intubation on first attempt in critically ill adults. The average effect of treatment in a trial population, however, may differ from effects for individuals. Objective: We hypothesized that application of a machine learning model to data from a clinical trial could estimate the effect of treatment (bougie vs. stylet) for individual patients based on their baseline characteristics ("individualized treatment effects"). Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the BOUGIE (Bougie or Stylet in Patients Undergoing Intubation Emergently) trial. A causal forest algorithm was used to model differences in outcome probabilities by randomized group assignment (bougie vs. stylet) for each patient in the first half of the trial (training cohort). This model was used to predict individualized treatment effects for each patient in the second half (validation cohort). Measurements and Main Results: Of 1,102 patients in the BOUGIE trial, 558 (50.6%) were the training cohort, and 544 (49.4%) were the validation cohort. In the validation cohort, individualized treatment effects predicted by the model significantly modified the effect of trial group assignment on the primary outcome (P value for interaction = 0.02; adjusted qini coefficient, 2.46). The most important model variables were difficult airway characteristics, body mass index, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score. Conclusions: In this hypothesis-generating secondary analysis of a randomized trial with no average treatment effect and no treatment effect in any prespecified subgroups, a causal forest machine learning algorithm identified patients who appeared to benefit from the use of a bougie over a stylet and from the use of a stylet over a bougie using complex interactions between baseline patient and operator characteristics.

Sedative Dose for Rapid Sequence Intubation and Postintubation Hypotension: Is There an Association?

STUDY OBJECTIVE: For patients with hemodynamic instability undergoing rapid sequence intubation, experts recommend reducing the sedative medication dose to minimize the risk of further hemodynamic deterioration. Scant data support this practice for etomidate and ketamine. We sought to determine if the dose of etomidate or ketamine was independently associated with postintubation hypotension. METHODS: We analyzed data from the National Emergency Airway Registry from January 2016 to December 2018. Patients aged 14 years or older were included if the first intubation attempt was facilitated with etomidate or ketamine. We used multivariable modeling to determine whether drug dose in milligrams per kilogram of patient weight was independently associated with postintubation hypotension (systolic blood pressure < 100 mm Hg). RESULTS: We analyzed 12,175 intubation encounters facilitated by etomidate and 1,849 facilitated by ketamine. The median drug doses were 0.28 mg/kg (interquartile range [IQR] 0.22 mg/kg to 0.32 mg/kg) for etomidate and 1.33 mg/kg (IQR 1 mg/kg to 1.8 mg/kg) for ketamine. Postintubation hypotension occurred in 1,976 patients (16.2%) who received etomidate and in 537 patients (29.0%) who received ketamine. In multivariable models, neither the etomidate dose (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.90 to 1.01) nor ketamine dose (aOR 0.97, 95% CI 0.81 to 1.17) was associated with postintubation hypotension. Results were similar in sensitivity analyses excluding patients with preintubation hypotension and including only patients intubated for shock. CONCLUSION: In this large registry of patients intubated after receiving either etomidate or ketamine, we observed no association between the weight-based sedative dose and postintubation hypotension.

Laryngoscopy and Tracheal Intubation: Does Use of a Video Laryngoscope Facilitate Both Steps of the Procedure?

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of the use of a video laryngoscope versus a direct laryngoscope on each step of emergency intubation: laryngoscopy (step 1) and intubation of the trachea (step 2). METHODS: In a secondary observational analysis of data from 2 multicenter, randomized trials that enrolled critically ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation but did not control for laryngoscope type (video laryngoscope vs direct laryngoscope), we fit mixed-effects logistic regression models examining the 1) the association between laryngoscope type (video laryngoscope vs direct laryngoscope) and the Cormack-Lehane grade of view and 2) the interaction between grade of view, laryngoscope type (video laryngoscope vs direct laryngoscope), and the incidence of successful intubation on the first attempt. RESULTS: We analyzed 1,786 patients: 467 (26.2%) in the direct laryngoscope group and 1,319 (73.9%) in the video laryngoscope group. The use of a video laryngoscope was associated with an improved grade of view as compared with a direct laryngoscope (adjusted odds ratio for increasingly favorable grade of view 3.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.47 to 3.99). Successful intubation on the first attempt occurred in 83.2% of patients in the video laryngoscope group and 72.2% of patients in the direct laryngoscope group (absolute difference 11.1%, 95% CI 6.5% to 15.6%). Video laryngoscope use modified the association between grade of view and successful intubation on the first attempt such that intubation on the first attempt was similar between video laryngoscope and direct laryngoscope at a grade 1 view and higher for video laryngoscope than direct laryngoscope at grade 2 to 4 views (P<.001 for interaction term). CONCLUSIONS: Among critically ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation, the use of a video laryngoscope was associated both with a better view of the vocal cords and with a higher probability of successfully intubating the trachea when the view of the vocal cords was incomplete in this observational analysis. However, a multicenter, randomized trial directly comparing the effect of a video laryngoscope with a direct laryngoscope on the grade of view, success, and complications is needed.

Defining Successful Intubation on the First Attempt Using Both Laryngoscope and Endotracheal Tube Insertions: A Secondary Analysis of Clinical Trial Data.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Successful intubation on the first attempt has historically been defined as successful placement of an endotracheal tube (ETT) using a single laryngoscope insertion. More recent studies have defined successful placement of an ETT using a single laryngoscope insertion followed by a single ETT insertion. We sought to estimate the prevalence of first-attempt success using these 2 definitions and estimate their associations with the duration of intubation and serious complications. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of data from 2 multicenter randomized trials of critically ill adults being intubated in the emergency department or ICU. We calculated the percent difference in successful intubations on the first attempt, median difference in the duration of intubation, and percent difference in the development of serious complications by definition. RESULTS: The study population included 1,863 patients. Successful intubation on the first attempt decreased by 4.9% (95% confidence interval 2.5% to 7.3%) when defined as 1 laryngoscope insertion followed by 1 ETT insertion (81.2%) compared with when defined as only 1 laryngoscope insertion (86.0%). When successful intubation with 1 laryngoscope and 1 ETT insertion was compared with 1 laryngoscope and multiple ETT insertions, the median duration of intubation decreased by 35.0 seconds (95% confidence interval 8.9 to 61.1 seconds). CONCLUSION: Defining successful intubation on the first attempt as placement of an ETT in the trachea using 1 laryngoscope and 1 ETT insertion identifies attempts with the shortest apneic time.

Video Laryngoscopy Is Associated With First-Pass Success in Emergency Department Intubations for Trauma Patients: A Propensity Score Matched Analysis of the National Emergency Airway Registry.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: We sought to (1) characterize emergency department (ED) intubations in trauma patients and estimate (2) first-pass success and (3) the association between patient and intubation characteristics and first-pass success. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of a multicenter prospective observational cohort of ED intubations from the National Emergency Airway Registry (NEAR). Descriptive statistics were calculated for all patients who were intubated for trauma at 23 NEAR EDs between 2016 and 2018. We evaluated first-pass success in patients intubated by (1) emergency or pediatric emergency physicians, (2) using rapid sequence intubation or no medications, and (3) either direct laryngoscopy or video laryngoscopy. We used propensity score matching with a generalized linear mixed-effects model to estimate the associations between patient and intubation characteristics and first-pass success. RESULTS: Of the 19,071 intubations in NEAR, 4,449 (23%) were for trauma, and nearly all (88%) had at least one difficult airway characteristic. Prevalence of first-pass success was 86.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 83.3% to 90.3%). Most patients were intubated with video laryngoscopy, and patients were more likely to be intubated on first-pass with video laryngoscopy as compared to direct laryngoscopy (90% versus 79%). After propensity score matching, video laryngoscopy remained associated with first-pass success (adjusted risk difference 11%, 95% CI: 8% to 14%; and OR 2.2, 95% CI: 1.6 to 2.9). Additionally, an initial impression of difficult airway, blood/vomit in the airway, and use of external laryngeal manipulation were all associated with decreased odds of first-pass success. CONCLUSION: Emergency physicians are successful at intubating patients in the setting of trauma, and video laryngoscopy is associated with twice the odds of first-pass success when compared to direct laryngoscopy.

Effect of Use of a Bougie vs Endotracheal Tube With Stylet on Successful Intubation on the First Attempt Among Critically Ill Patients Undergoing Tracheal Intubation: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: For critically ill adults undergoing emergency tracheal intubation, failure to intubate the trachea on the first attempt occurs in up to 20% of cases and is associated with severe hypoxemia and cardiac arrest. Whether using a tracheal tube introducer ("bougie") increases the likelihood of successful intubation compared with using an endotracheal tube with stylet remains uncertain. Objective: To determine the effect of use of a bougie vs an endotracheal tube with stylet on successful intubation on the first attempt. Design, Setting, and Participants: The Bougie or Stylet in Patients Undergoing Intubation Emergently (BOUGIE) trial was a multicenter, randomized clinical trial among 1102 critically ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation in 7 emergency departments and 8 intensive care units in the US between April 29, 2019, and February 14, 2021; the date of final follow-up was March 14, 2021. Interventions: Patients were randomly assigned to use of a bougie (n = 556) or use of an endotracheal tube with stylet (n = 546). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was successful intubation on the first attempt. The secondary outcome was the incidence of severe hypoxemia, defined as a peripheral oxygen saturation less than 80%. Results: Among 1106 patients randomized, 1102 (99.6%) completed the trial and were included in the primary analysis (median age, 58 years; 41.0% women). Successful intubation on the first attempt occurred in 447 patients (80.4%) in the bougie group and 453 patients (83.0%) in the stylet group (absolute risk difference, -2.6 percentage points [95% CI, -7.3 to 2.2]; P = .27). A total of 58 patients (11.0%) in the bougie group experienced severe hypoxemia, compared with 46 patients (8.8%) in the stylet group (absolute risk difference, 2.2 percentage points [95% CI, -1.6 to 6.0]). Esophageal intubation occurred in 4 patients (0.7%) in the bougie group and 5 patients (0.9%) in the stylet group, pneumothorax was present after intubation in 14 patients (2.5%) in the bougie group and 15 patients (2.7%) in the stylet group, and injury to oral, glottic, or thoracic structures occurred in 0 patients in the bougie group and 3 patients (0.5%) in the stylet group. Conclusions and Relevance: Among critically ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation, use of a bougie did not significantly increase the incidence of successful intubation on the first attempt compared with use of an endotracheal tube with stylet. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03928925

Emergency Ultrasound Literature and Adherence to Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Criteria.

BACKGROUND: Given the wide usage of emergency point-of-care ultrasound (EUS) among emergency physicians (EPs), rigorous study surrounding its accuracy is essential. The Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy (STARD) criteria were established to ensure robust reporting methodology for diagnostic studies. Adherence to the STARD criteria among EUS diagnostic studies has yet to be reported. OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to evaluate a body of EUS literature shortly after STARD publication for its baseline adherence to the STARD criteria. METHODS: EUS studies in 5 emergency medicine journals from 2005-2010 were evaluated for their adherence to the STARD criteria. Manuscripts were selected for inclusion if they reported original research and described the use of 1 of 10 diagnostic ultrasound modalities designated as "core emergency ultrasound applications" in the 2008 American College of Emergency Physicians Ultrasound Guidelines. Literature search identified 307 studies; of these, 45 met inclusion criteria for review. RESULTS: The median STARD score was 15 (interquartile range [IQR] 12-17), representing 60% of the 25 total STARD criteria. The median STARD score among articles that reported diagnostic accuracy was significantly higher than those that did not report accuracy (17 [IQR 15-19] vs. 11 [IQR 9-13], respectively; p < 0.0001). Seventy-one percent of articles met ≥50% of the STARD criteria (56-84%) and 4% met >80% of the STARD criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Significant opportunities exist to improve methodological reporting of EUS research. Increased adherence to the STARD criteria among diagnostic EUS studies will improve reporting and improve our ability to compare outcomes.

Variation in asthma care at hospital discharge by race/ethnicity groups.

Objective: While asthma disproportionately affects minorities, little is known about racial/ethnic differences in asthma care at hospital discharge. Methods: Secondary data analysis of multicenter retrospective study using standardized medical record review. A random sample of patients aged 2-54 years, who were hospitalized for asthma at 25 hospitals from 2012 to 2013 was analyzed. We categorized patients into three race/ethnicity groups: non-Hispanic white (NHW), non-Hispanic black (NHB), and Hispanic. Multivariable logistic regression using generalized estimating equations was used to examine the relationship between race/ethnicity and the provision of guideline-concordant asthma care at hospital discharge including: the provision of asthma action plans, provision of new prescription of an inhaled corticosteroid, and referral to an asthma specialist. Results: Nine hundred thirteen patients (39% children, 71% minorities) hospitalized for asthma were included. In adjusted models, NHB children were significantly less likely to receive a written asthma action plan (OR 0.48; 95% CI 0.31-0.76) than NHW children. In contrast, among adults, we found no statistically significant difference in the provision of asthma action plan. Additionally, we found no difference in the provision of a new inhaled corticosteroid prescription or referral to an asthma specialist among children or adults. Conclusions: NHB and Hispanic patients represent the majority of patients hospitalized for acute asthma in our cohort and were more likely than NHW patients to have increased markers of asthma severity. Despite this, the only significant racial/ethnic difference in asthma care at hospital discharge was among NHB children, who were less likely to receive a written asthma action plan .

Patient, provider, and environmental factors associated with adherence to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular clinical practice guidelines in the ED.

OBJECTIVES: Myocardial infarction and stroke are two of the leading causes of death in the U.S. Both diseases have clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) specific to the emergency department (ED) that improve patient outcomes. Our primary objectives were to estimate differences in ED adherence across CPGs for these diseases and identify patient, provider, and environmental factors associated with adherence. METHODS: Design: Retrospective study at 3 hospitals in Colorado using standard medical record review. POPULATION: Consecutive adults (≥18) hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome (ACS), ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), or acute ischemic stroke (AIS), who were admitted to the hospital from the ED and for whom the ED diagnosed or initiated treatment. OUTCOME: ED adherence to the CPG (primary); in-hospital mortality and length-of-stay (secondary). ANALYSIS: Multivariable logistic regression using generalized estimating equations was used. RESULTS: Among 1053 patients, ED care was adherent in 84% with significant differences in adherence between CPGs (p<0.001) and across institutions (p=0.04). When patients presented with atypical chief complaints, the odds of receiving adherent care was 0.6 (95% CI 0.4-0.9). When the primary ED diagnosis was associated but not specific to the CPG, the odds of receiving adherent care was 0.5 (95% CI 0.3-0.9) and 0.3 (95% CI 0.2-0.5) for unrelated primary diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to ED CPGs for ACS, STEMI and AIS differs significantly between cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and is more likely to occur when the diagnosis is highly suggested by the patient's complaint and acknowledged as the primary diagnosis by the treating ED physician.

Effect of Emergency Physician-Performed Point-of-Care Ultrasound and Radiology Department-Performed Ultrasound Examinations on the Emergency Department Length of Stay Among Pregnant Women at Less Than 20 Weeks' Gestation.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to confirm retrospective studies that measured an approximately 20% reduction in emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) in early-gestation pregnant women who receive emergency physician-performed point-of-care ultrasound (US) examinations rather than radiology department-performed US examinations for evaluation of intrauterine pregnancy (IUP). METHODS: A randomized controlled clinical trial was performed at an urban academic safety net hospital and 2 Naval medical centers in the United States. The allocation was concealed before enrollment. Clinically stable adult pregnant women at less than 20 weeks' gestation who presented to the ED with abdominal pain or vaginal bleeding were randomized to receive a point-of-care or radiology US to assess for IUP. The primary outcome measure was the ED LOS. RESULTS: A total of 224 patients (point-of-care US, n = 118; radiology US, n = 106) were included for the analysis. The ED LOS was 20 minutes shorter in the point-of-care US arm (95% confidence interval [CI], -54 to 7 minutes). Adjusting for variability due to the location, the ED LOS was calculated to be 31 minutes shorter (95% CI, -64 to 1 minute) than for patients in the radiology US arm. Excluding patients in the point-of-care US arm who crossed over to radiology US after an inconclusive point-of-care US examination, the ED LOS was 75 minutes shorter than in the radiology US arm (95% CI, -97 to -53 minutes). CONCLUSIONS: Early-gestation pregnant ED patients requiring pelvic US were discharged earlier when point-of-care US was used rather than radiology US; however, this trial did not achieve our target of 30 minutes. Nevertheless, our data support the routine use of ED point-of-care US for IUP, saving the most time if a conclusive IUP is identified.

Inter-rater Reliability of Sonographic Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter Measurements by Emergency Medicine Physicians.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the degree of agreement of sonographic optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) measurements by ultrasound fellowship-trained and resident emergency medicine (EM) physicians. METHODS: Ten ultrasound fellowship-trained EM attending physicians from multiple institutions and 51 resident EM physicians at a single residency were enrolled to measure the ONSD using a computerized ruler on five separate still-frame sonograms of adult eyes that included the retrobulbar optic nerve. Descriptive and bivariate statistics for each ultrasound image were calculated to compare median ONSD measurements among groups. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated to estimate the inter-rater reliability. RESULTS: Although the median ONSD measurement of each image did not significantly differ between resident and ultrasound fellowship-trained EM physicians, we found greater variation in agreement of ONSD measurements by resident EM physicians (ICC 0.50; 95% confidence interval 0.25-0.89) than ultrasound fellowship-trained EM physicians (ICC 0.73; 95% confidence interval 0.44-0.96). CONCLUSIONS: Although both resident and ultrasound fellowship-trained EM physicians showed good inter-rater reliability of ONSD measurements, variation in agreement among ultrasound fellowship-trained EM physicians may be as wide as 0.44, suggesting that even in skilled hands, ultrasound measurement of the ONSD may not be as dependable a screening tool for elevated intracranial pressure as previously suggested in the literature.

Validation of a Low-cost Optic Nerve Sheath Ultrasound Phantom: An Educational Tool.

OBJECTIVE: To validate an ocular phantom as a realistic educational tool utilizing in vivo and phantom optic nerve sheath (ONS) images obtained by ultrasound. METHODS: This prospective study enrolled 51 resident physicians from the Denver Health Residency in Emergency Medicine (EM) and 10 ultrasound fellowship-trained EM attending physicians. Participants performed optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) measurements on five in vivo and five phantom ocular ultrasound images and rated the realism of each image on a 5-point Likert scale. Chi-square analysis was performed to evaluate the subjective "realness" of in vivo and phantom images. RESULTS: Sixty-one participants performed ONSD measurements. Mean Likert scale values were 3.43 (95% confidence interval: 3.31-3.55) for in vivo images and 3.41 (95% confidence interval: 3.28-3.54) for phantom images. There was no statistical difference in subjective "realness" between in vivo and phantom ONSD ultrasound images among EM residents. Ultrasound fellowship-trained EM attending physicians aptly differentiated between in vivo (p < 0.01) and phantom (p < 0.01) images, as compared with EM residents. CONCLUSION: Our ocular phantom simulates in vivo posterior ocular anatomy. EM resident physicians found the phantom indistinguishable from in vivo images. Our ONS model provides an inexpensive and realistic educational tool to teach bedside ONSD sonography.

Risk of motor vehicle collision associated with cannabis and alcohol use among patients presenting for emergency care.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between cannabis and alcohol use and occurrence of motor vehicle collision (MVC) among patients in the emergency department (ED). METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of visits to EDs in Denver, CO, Portland, OR, and Sacramento, CA by drivers who were involved in MVCs and presented with injuries (cases) and non-injured drivers (controls) who presented for medical care. We obtained blood samples and measured delta-9-THC and its metabolites. Alcohol levels were determined by breathalyzer or samples taken in the course of clinical care. Participants completed a research-assistant-administered interview consisting of questions about drug and alcohol use prior to their visit, context of use, and past-year drug and alcohol use. Multiple logistic regression was used to estimate the association between MVC and cannabis/alcohol use, adjusted for demographic characteristics. We then stratified participants based on levels of cannabis use and calculated the odds of MVC across these levels, first using self-report and then using blood levels for delta-9-THC in separate models. We conducted a case-crossover analysis, using 7-day look-back data to allow each participant to serve as their own control. Sensitivity analyses examined the influence of usual use patterns and driving in a closed (car, truck, van) versus open (motorcycle, motorbike, all-terrain vehicle) vehicle. RESULTS: Cannabis alone was not associated with higher odds of MVC, while acute alcohol use alone, and combined use of alcohol and cannabis were both independently associated with higher odds of MVC. Stratifying by level of self-reported or measured cannabis use, higher levels were not associated with higher odds for MVC, with or without co-use of alcohol; in fact, high self-reported acute cannabis use was associated with lower odds of MVC (odds ratio [OR] 0.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.05-0.65). In the case-crossover analysis, alcohol use alone or in combination with cannabis was associated with higher odds of MVC, while cannabis use alone was again associated with decreased odds of MVC. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol use alone or in conjunction with cannabis was consistently associated with higer odds for MVC. However, the relationship between measured levels of cannabis and MVC was not as clear. Emphasis on actual driving behaviors and clinical signs of intoxication to determine driving under the influence has the strongest rationale.