PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

David A Guss

Publications and source records attributed to David A Guss.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Impact of helical computed tomography on the rate of negative appendicitis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of helical computed tomography (HCT) on the rate of negative appendicitis (NA). METHODS: A before-and-after comparison study comparing data from a prospective consecutive case series to data from a retrospective chart review. The prospective series included all patients presenting to the ED during a 19-month period, during which patients with suspected appendicitis were managed in accordance with a guideline that stipulated HCT in selected cases. The retrospective group included patients taken to the operating room (OR) with a preoperative diagnosis of appendicitis over a 4-year time frame before the use of HCT. The primary outcome variable was the rate of NA. RESULTS: During the HCT era, 104 of 310 patients, 71 (68%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 59-76) men and 33 (32%; 95% CI, 24-41) women, were taken to the OR with a diagnosis of appendicitis. Fourteen (13.5%; 95% CI, 8-21) were NA. During the pre-HCT period, 445 patients, 280 (62.9%; 95% CI, 58-67) men and 165 (37.1%; 95% CI, 33-42) women were taken to the OR with the preoperative diagnosis of appendicitis, and 66 (14.8%; 95% CI, 12-19) were NA. CONCLUSION: At the study institution, the selective use of HCT did not result in a significant decline in the rate of NA.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Impact of rapid entry and accelerated care at triage on reducing emergency department patient wait times, lengths of stay, and rate of left without being seen.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Patients who leave before being seen by a physician represent a significant problem for many emergency departments (EDs). We sought to determine the effect of a new ED rapid entry and accelerated care at triage (REACT) process on the frequency of patients who leave before being seen. METHODS: We conducted a before-after intervention design to study the effect of REACT for ambulatory patients presenting to our urban academic center ED with a census of approximately 37,000. This process redesign included patient identification tracking, integrated computer interfaces to eliminate up-front registration tasks, immediate placement of patients in open ED beds, and physician-directed ancillary testing and care at triage when no ED beds were available. Outcome measures included the average monthly rate of patients who left before being seen during the 6 months before (pre-REACT) and 6 to 12 months after (post-REACT) its initiation. Other measures included average of mean monthly rates of wait times, ED length of stay, ED census, and admissions. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in leave before being seen frequency from the pre-REACT to post-REACT periods (3.2% absolute decrease [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9% to 4.6%]), despite an overall increase in ED census. Average mean monthly patient wait times decreased by 24 minutes [95% CI 10 to 38 minutes] after the initiation of REACT, as did overall ED length of stay by 31 minutes [95% CI 6 to 57 minutes]. CONCLUSION: The initiation of a rapid entry and accelerated care process significantly decreased patient leave before being seen rates, average wait times and length of stay, despite an overall increase in patient census.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed2005

Mycotoxins revisited: Part I.

Mushrooms are ubiquitous in nature. They are an important source of nutrition; however, certain varieties contain chemicals that can be highly toxic to humans. Industrially cultivated mushrooms are historically very safe, but foraging for mushrooms or accidental ingestion of mushrooms in the environment can result in serious illness and death. The emergency department is the most common site of presentation for patients suffering from acute mushroom poisoning. Although recognition can be facilitated by identification of a characteristic toxidrome, the presenting manifestations can be variable and have considerable overlap with more common and generally benign clinical syndromes. The goal of this two-part article is to review the knowledge base on this subject and provide information that will assist the clinician in the early consideration, diagnosis and treatment of mushroom poisoning. Part I, presented in this issue of the Journal, reviews the epidemiology and demographics of mushroom poisoning, the physical characteristics of the most toxic varieties, the classification of the toxic species, and an overview of the cyclopeptide-containing mushroom class. Part II, to be published in the next issue of the Journal, will be focused on the presentation of the other classes of toxic mushrooms along with an up-to-date review of the most recently identified poisonous varieties.

Agaricales↗
PubMed2005

Mycotoxins revisited: Part II.

Mushrooms are ubiquitous in nature. They are an important source of nutrition, however, certain varieties contain chemicals that can be highly toxic to humans. Industrially cultivated mushrooms are historically very safe, whereas foraging for mushrooms or accidental ingestion of mushrooms in the environment can result in serious illness and death. The emergency department is the most common site of presentation for patients suffering from acute mushroom poisoning. Although recognition can be facilitated by identification of a characteristic toxidrome, the presenting manifestations can be variable and have considerable overlap with more common and generally benign clinical syndromes. The goal of this two-part article is to review the knowledge base on this subject and provide information that will assist the clinician in the early consideration, diagnosis and treatment of mushroom poisoning. Part I reviewed the epidemiology and demographics of mushroom poisoning, the physical characteristics of the most toxic varieties, the classification of the toxic species, and presented an overview of the cyclopeptide-containing mushroom class. Part II is focused on the presentation of the other classes of toxic mushrooms along with an up-to-date review of the most recently identified poisonous varieties.

2,2'-Dipyridyl↗
PubMed2004

Approach to decreasing emergency department ambulance diversion hours.

Analysis between two local Emergency Departments (EDs) suggested an oscillatory phenomenon for ambulance diversion: When one hospital went on diversion it led to a disproportionate flow of ambulance traffic to a neighboring facility that subsequently was forced to go on divert. We hypothesized if one hospital could avoid diversion status, the need for diversion could be averted in the neighboring facility. ED A secured additional resources and made a commitment to no diversion for 1 week. No changes in operations occurred in hospital B. We found no differences in ambulance runs or ED census at either facility comparing the week before, during, and after the trial. There was a dramatic decline in diversion hours from 19.7 to 1.4 and 27.7 to 0 at hospitals A and B, respectively, during the trial period (p < 0.05) compared to the weeks before and after. We conclude that reciprocating effects can be decreased with one institution's commitment to avoid diversion, thus decreasing the need for diversion at a neighboring facility.

Ambulances↗
PubMed2004

Clinical value of the total white blood cell count and temperature in the evaluation of patients with suspected appendicitis.

OBJECTIVES: The total white blood cell (WBC) count and temperature are often expected to be elevated in patients with appendicitis. Clinicians often use the results of these parameters in making a judgment about the presence or absence of disease. The objective of this study was to assess the discriminatory value of the total WBC count and presenting body temperature in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with signs and symptoms suggestive of appendicitis. METHODS: This was a prospective consecutive case series in a university ED with an annual census of 38,000. All patients presenting to the ED in whom the diagnosis of appendicitis was the attending physician's primary consideration were enrolled. Measures included age, gender, symptoms, physical findings, patient temperature as taken in the ED, initial total WBC count, and discharge diagnosis. Admitted patients were followed up until surgical or clinical outcomes, and discharged patients were followed up by telephone two weeks after the initial visit. All statistical analysis was performed using StatsDirect version 1.9.8. RESULTS: A total of 293 patients were enrolled over a two-year study period. The total WBC count was measured in 274 cases, and the temperature was measured in 293 cases. There were 130 male patients and 163 female patients. The mean age of the patients was 30.8 years (range, 7-75 years). Appendicitis was confirmed in 92 patients. In this study group of patients, a total WBC count >10,000 cells/mm(3) had a sensitivity of 76% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 65% to 84%) and a specificity of 52% (95% CI = 45% to 60%). The positive predictive value (PPV) was 42% (95% CI = 35% to 51%), and the negative predictive value (NPV) was 82% (95% CI = 74% to 89%). The positive likelihood ratio (LR) was 1.59 (95% CI = 1.31 to 1.93), and the negative LR was 0.46 (95% CI = 0.31 to 0.67). A temperature >99.0 degrees F had a sensitivity of 47% (95% CI = 36% to 57%) and a specificity of 64% (95% CI = 57% to 71%). The PPV was 37% (95% CI = 29% to 46%), and the NPV was 72% (95% CI = 65% to 79%). The positive LR was 1.3 (95% CI = 0.97 to 1.72), and the negative LR was 0.82 (95% CI = 0.65 to 1.01). The areas under the curve for the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve were 0.72 (95% CI = 0.65 to 0.79) and 0.59 (95% CI = 0.52 to 0.66) for an elevated total WBC count and an elevated temperature, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: An elevated total WBC count >10,000 cells/mm(3), while statistically associated with the presence of appendicitis, had very poor sensitivity and specificity and almost no clinical utility. There was minimal statistical association between a temperature of >99 degrees F and the presence of appendicitis. The ROC curve suggests there is no value of total WBC count or temperature that has sufficient sensitivity and specificity to be of clinical value in the diagnosis of appendicitis. Clinicians should be wary of reliance on either elevated temperature or total WBC count as an indicator of the presence of appendicitis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Impact of helical computed tomography on the outcomes of emergency department patients with suspected appendicitis.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of an emergency department (ED) guideline employing selective use of helical computed tomography (CT) on clinical outcomes of female patients with suspected appendicitis. METHODS: All patients presenting with suspected appendicitis were prospectively enrolled and managed in accordance with a guideline incorporating selective use of helical CT. Although not the objective of this investigation, male patients were included for purposes of comparison. Patients with clinically evident appendicitis were referred to the surgical service, and patients with equivocal presentations were studied with helical CT. Patients were followed to final surgical or clinical outcomes. Outcome measures included time from ED presentation to laparotomy and rate of appendiceal perforation. These measures were compared with those of a historical cohort of patients preceding the use of helical CT. RESULTS: A total of 310 consecutive patients with suspected appendicitis were enrolled; 92 had appendicitis. Sixty patients were referred to the surgical service without helical CT, and 41 had appendicitis (68%). Helical CT was performed on 250 patients; 51 had appendicitis (20%). For males, the mean interval from ED presentation to laparotomy was 559 minutes (95% CI = 444 to 674 minutes) during guideline use and 480 minutes (95% CI = 405 to 555 minutes) before. This interval for females was 433 minutes (95% CI = 326 to 540 minutes) during guideline use and 710 minutes (95% CI = 558 to 862 minutes) before. Appendiceal perforation rate for males was 0.25 (95% CI = 0.14 to 0.36) during guideline use and 0.38 (95% CI = 0.29 to 0.47) before; perforation rate for females was 0.06 (95% CI = -0.05 to 0.17) during guideline use and 0.23 (95% CI = 0.14 to 0.32) before. Helical CT had 92% sensitivity, 97% specificity, and 96% accuracy in diagnosing appendicitis. CONCLUSIONS: Helical CT is highly accurate in detecting appendicitis in patients with equivocal ED presentations. The use of a guideline employing selective helical CT was associated with a decline in the time from ED presentation to operative intervention in females.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Hemorrhagic shock from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy in a patient with a negative urine pregnancy test result.

Ectopic pregnancy has been increasing in frequency over the past 2 decades. The sudden rupture of a fallopian tube caused by ectopic pregnancy can lead to hemorrhagic shock and death if not diagnosed and treated in a timely fashion. The emergency physician is often the health professional that is called on to make the diagnosis and coordinate timely and effective intervention. The first step in the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy is demonstration of pregnancy by means of a rapidly performed and sensitive qualitative urine test for the beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG). A negative urine pregnancy test result will generally be used to exclude ectopic pregnancy from further consideration. The following is a report of a patient presenting to an emergency department with hypovolemic shock in conjunction with 2 negative urine beta-hCG analysis results and a quantitative serum beta-hCG level of 7 mIU/mL, a value less than the lower limit of detection for the highly sensitive qualitative urine and serum tests. This case report demonstrates the importance of further consideration of the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy in the setting of a negative urine pregnancy test result.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

A simple plan--faculty compensation in an academic department of emergency medicine.

An equitable and effective compensation system is essential to the smooth and productive operation of any academic department. While academic departments of emergency medicine must meet clinical, teaching, research, and administrative missions, they are disproportionately reliant on funds derived from clinical activities. The Department of Emergency Medicine at UCSD is a freestanding academic hospital department with responsibility and accountability for its own finances. The compensation system addresses the reliance on clinical income yet recognizes the other, largely underfunded, missions. All salaries are comprised of a base amount tied to the core clinical workload, scaleable stipends for academic rank, years of service, and administrative role, as well as a provision for clinical bonus and additional clinical workload. Faculty have the option of adjusting clinical workload with resultant formulaic modification of departmental salary support. Salary adjustment fosters the core value of clinical service and provides incentive for senior faculty to remain clinically active. The system has been in place for more than six years and has been associated with an excellent record of patient care, teaching, academic productivity, administrative service, faculty stability, and fiscal integrity.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Utility of impedance cardiography to improve physician estimation of hemodynamic parameters in the emergency department.

Emergency physicians must often make assessments of complex hemodynamic parameters. To assess the utility of impedance cardiography (ICG) in the emergency department, the authors examined treating physicians' abilities to assess stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) by comparing the clinicians' estimates of these values to ICG measurements. Treating physicians were asked to estimate the SV, CO, and SVR of acutely ill patients as being low, normal, or high. ICG measurements of SV, CO, and SVR were also categorized as low, normal, or high. Physician estimates were compared with ICG measures for concordance. Changes of therapy initiated as a result of discordance between physician's estimates and ICG measurements were recorded. The treating physician assessments and ICG hemodynamic measurements were concordant in 62 of 101 (62%) cases for SV (kappa=0.068), in 53 of 101 (53%) cases for CO (p=0.125), and in 50 of 101 (50%) measurements for SVR (p=0.148). The low concordance suggests that treating physicians did not consistently estimate SV, CO, and SVR accurately. ICG provides noninvasive hemodynamic measurements of SV, CO, and SVR that offer clinical utility and potential value in the emergency department.

Cardiac Output↗