Man with severe abdominal pain.

CLINICAL INTRODUCTION: A 59-year-old man with no medical history presented to the ED with abdominal distension, vomiting and diffuse abdominal pain after drinking seven cups of white gourd drink (an authentic Asian drink composed mainly of white gourd). A chest radiograph was performed (figure 1).emermed;35/9/571/F1F1F1Figure 1Chest radiograph. AP, anteroposterior. QUESTION: What is the most likely diagnosis?Crescent in doughnut sign, intussusceptionFalciform ligament sign, pneumoperitoneumStepladder sign, small bowel obstructionCoffee-bean sign, sigmoid colon volvulus.

[The Efficacy of Near-Infrared Devices in Facilitating Peripheral Intravenous Access in Children: A Systematic Review and Subgroup Meta-Analysis].

BACKGROUND: Peripheral intravenous access is a common and invasive procedure that is performed in pediatric clinical settings. Children often have difficult intravenous-access problems that may not only increase staff stress but also affect the timeliness of immediate treatments. PURPOSE: To determine the efficacy of near-infrared devices in facilitating peripheral intravenous access in children, using a systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: Six databases, namely the Index to Taiwan Periodical Literature System, Airiti Library, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PubMed/MEDLINE, and ProQuest were searched for related articles that were published between the earliest year available and February 2017. The search was limited to studies on populations of children that used either a randomized controlled trial or controlled clinical trial approach and used the key words "near-infrared devices" AND "peripheral intravenous access." The 12 articles that met these criteria were included in the analysis. The Cochrane Collaboration bias assessment tool was used to assess the methodological quality. In addition, RevMan 5.3.5 software was used to conduct the meta-analysis. RESULTS: The near-infrared devices did not significantly improve the first-attempt success rate, number of attempts, or the procedural time of peripheral intravenous access in children. However, the subgroup analysis of difficult intravenous-access factors revealed a significant improvement in the first-attempt success rate of children with difficult intravenous access scores (OR = 1.83, p = .03). CONCLUSIONS / IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Near-infrared devices may improve the first-attempt success rate in children with difficult intravenous access by allowing healthcare professionals to visualize the peripheral veins. Therefore, we suggest that the difficult intravenous-access score be used as a screening tool to suggest when to apply near-infrared devices to children with difficult peripheral intravenous access in order to maximize efficacy of treatment.

[Efficacy of Ultrasound-Guided Peripheral Intravenous Access: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis].

BACKGROUND: Peripheral intravenous access is a common, invasive procedure that is performed in clinical practice. Difficult intravenous access may not only jeopardize patient safety but also increase staff stress, nursing hours, and material costs. PURPOSE: To explore the efficacy of ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous access in difficult intravenous-access patients and in the two subgroups of adult patients and pediatric patients using systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: Six Chinese and English databases, including the Index to Taiwan Periodical Literature System, Airiti Library, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PubMed/MEDLINE, and ProQuest, were searched for related articles that were published between the earliest year available and April 2016. The search was limited to studies that used randomized control trials (RCTs) or controlled clinical trials (CCTs) and the associated key words "ultrasound-guided" AND "peripheral intravenous access". The 12 articles that met these criteria were used in the analysis. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist was used to assess methodological quality and RevMan 5.3 software was used to conduct the meta-analysis. RESULTS: The ultrasound-guided technique was found to improve the success rate of intravenous access significantly (OR = 3.00, p < .0001) and to decrease the number of attempts (MD = -0.61, p = .03) in the overall group of difficult intravenous-access patients. The subgroup analysis found a significantly improved success rate and decreased number of attempts in difficult intravenous-access adult patients and significantly decreased procedural times in difficult intravenous-access pediatric patients. CONCLUSIONS / IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The ultrasound-guided technique may improve the efficacy of intravenous access by helping health care professionals visualize the peripheral veins. We suggest that patient characteristics, ultrasound accessibility, and the feasibility of staff training be assessed in order to provide ultrasound guidance that improves the efficacy of intravenous access.