A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Renal stones (or “calculi”) are a relatively common condition, affecting up to 12 percent of people during their lifetime. Typical presentation of renal calculi is acute, intermittent flank pain, termed “renal colic”, which may radiate to the groin. Pain may be accompanied by hematuria, nausea, or vomiting.1 Acute renal colic is a common cause for presentation to the Emergency Department, accounting for an estimated 1 million emergency room visits annually in the United States.2 The severe pain associated with renal calculi requires immediate analgesia, and effective analgesia is associated with improved functional capacity after drug administration.3 In this trial, we compare the efficacy of IV ketorolac vs. IV ibuprofen for pain control in patients with renal colic in a three‐armed double‐blind prospective trial. Patients were randomized to one of three treatment groups, receiving parenteral infusions of either IV ibuprofen + morphine, IV ketorolac + morphine, or morphine monotherapy. Outcome of drug administration was measured by patients’ self‐assessment of pain on a verbal scale at 15 mins, 30 mins, 60 min, and 120 min after drug administration. We hypothesized that IV ibuprofen would provide effective, non‐opioid pain relief in the emergency setting and might have a lower incidence of adverse effects than ketorolac. Need for rescue analgesia (with 4 mg morphine) was observed as an indirect measure of analgesic efficacy. A total of 11 patients completed the study. There was no significant difference in area under the curve of pain score in any of the three treatment arms (p>0.4). The ibuprofen group demonstrated consistent improvement in pain over the course of 120 min of study, with 100% of the patients in that arm demonstrating downtrending pain scores. Though the sample size was too small to identify a statistically significant difference in need for rescue medication, there was a trend toward increased opioid in the ibuprofen group, with 50% of those participants receiving rescue analgesia with morphine. The sample size of this pilot study is inadequate to fully assess the analgesic efficacy of IV ibuprofen for renal colic. A trend toward improved pain control in the ibuprofen group was observed, with 100% of the patients in the ibuprofen arm reporting decreased pain after 120 minutes (as compared to 66% in the ketorolac arm and 75% in the placebo arm). Further study of efficacy and need for rescue analgesia is warranted.

No description available.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Greifswald.

Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines palliative care as 'an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.' 1 This includes a wide variety of situations such as chronic illness and end-of-life care. 2 Palliative care is usually performed in-hospital. However, emergency medical services (EMS) often encounter patients requiring palliative care as these patients may have acute exacerbations of illness, progress towards end-of-life or require transport to a medical facility. 3-9 Thus, there is a role for palliative care in the pre-hospital setting. EMS providers are uniquely positioned to deliver this care in the pre-hospital setting as they are often the first point of medical contact. 10 This has great potential benefit for patient comfort, early identification and relief of suffering and earlier referral to hospice care. 10, 11 Despite this unique position there is an overall lack of guidance within EMS systems to manage palliative patients. 5, 6, 10 In the United States of America (USA), for example, only 5-6% of EMS systems have protocols for palliative care. 6, 10 In addition, there is no specific pre-hospital emergency care curricula on the subject, resulting in a lack of education and training for EMS providers. 3-5, 12, 13 This may stem from the historical focus of EMS training which primarily involves immediate measures to preserve life or limb until definitive care is reached. 11 This focus has resulted in an EMS ethos of 'saving lives.' 5, 12 Palliative care, on the other hand, is not focussed on 'saving lives', but rather the prevention and relief of suffering. 1 Therefore, palliative care may seem to conflict with emergency care, placing EMS providers in difficult situations when confronted with palliative care patients. 8, 12, 14 South Africa itself faces what has been termed a “quadruple burden of disease” due to communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, high maternal and paediatric mortality rates, non-communicable disease as well as injury. 15 The large number of patients suffering from these diseases and the life-limiting complications thereof, results in increased need for palliative care in the country as noted by the South African Minister of Health. 16 Access to health care for patients suffering from these diseases is a further challenge in the Sub-Saharan African setting. 17, 18, 19 In South Africa, EMS are often contacted 3 by those without access to transport to provide this service. 20 Thus, South African EMS providers may frequently encounter not only high acuity emergency patients, but many ill HIV/AIDS, cancer and other chronically ill patients requiring palliative care who are unable to access healthcare via alternative means. 21 European studies have found that approximately 3-5% of all pre-hospital calls involve palliative care situations. 2, 22, 23 With the quadruple burden of disease and limited access in the South African setting, this percentage is likely higher as these factors result in increased frequency of contact between EMS providers and patients requiring palliative care. Although EMS providers in South Africa manage palliative patients in the prehospital setting, to our knowledge, no research has been produced in the (South) African setting regarding prehospital palliative care. Outside of Africa literature has been produced but is limited. This literature review discusses paramedic perceptions of prehospital palliative care, prehospital palliative care patient management and legislation concerning prehospital palliative care. Finally, expert opinion pieces and recommendations are reviewed.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliograpical references. / Hospitals across South Africa are inundated with patients suffering from conditions associated with substance abuse. It is inevitable that contact with health services be made through an emergency centre (EC) at some point. This study aims to assess the exposure and attitudes of emergency physicians to substance abuse and addiction in major South African academic ECs. A prospective survey based on the Substance Abuse Attitude Survey (SAAS) was conducted in a convenience sample of eighty five emergency physician registrars and junior consultants in Cape Town, Gauteng, Limpopo and KwaZulu Natal. Respondents were targeted during academic meetings and by post.

Background Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) are an expensive resource that should be utilised efficiently to optimise the cost-benefit ratio. This is especially true in resource-limited settings, such as South Africa. This may be achieved by implementing call-out criteria that are most appropriate to the healthcare system in which HEMS operate. Currently, there are no published evidence-based HEMS callout criteria developed for South Africa. By identifying patients that are most likely to benefit from HEMS, their utilisation can be enhanced and adjusted to ensure optimal patient outcome. Aim To systematically utilise expert opinions to reach consensus on HEMS call-out criteria that are contextual to the South African setting. Methods A modified Delphi technique was used to develop call-out criteria, using current literature as the basis of the study. Purposive, snowball sampling was employed to identify a sample of 118 participants locally and internationally, of which 42 participated for all three rounds. Using an online survey platform, binary agreement/disagreement with each criterion was sought. Acceptable consensus was set at 75%. Statements were sent out in the third round ascertaining whether participants agreed with the analysis of the first two rounds. Results After two rounds, consensus was obtained for 63% (36/57) of criteria, while 64% of generated statements received consensus in the third round. Results emphasised the opinion that HEMS dispatch criteria relating to patient condition and incident locations were preferential to a comprehensive list. We present these criteria in a collated format, favouring further inquiry on a case-by-case basis. Participants suggested the use of a screening tool, which can guide dispatch decision-making. Conclusion The combination of existing literature and participant opinions, established that callout criteria are most efficient when based on clinical parameters and geographic considerations, as opposed to a specified list of criteria. This could improve resource allocation, specifically in a low to middle income country such as South Africa.

Introduction: The diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism (PE) is challenging to make and is often missed in the Emergency Centre. The true incidence of PE in South Africa is unknown. The diagnostic work-up of PE has been improved by the use of Clinical decision rules (CDRs) and CT Pulmonary Angiography (CTPA) in high-income countries. Currently used CDRs have not been validated in the South African environment, where HIV and TB are highly prevalent. Both conditions are known to induce a hyper-coagulable state. Methods: This study was a retrospective chart review of patients with suspected PE that had CTPAs performed from October 2013 to October 2015 at Mitchell’s Plain Hospital in South Africa. Data was collected on demographics, presenting symptoms and signs, vitals, bedside investigations, HIV and TB status, use of CDRs and CTPA result. A Revised Geneva Score was calculated retrospectively and compared to the CTPA result. Results: The median age of patients with confirmed PE was 45 years and 68% were female. The CTPA yield for PE in our study population was 32%. The most common presenting complaint was dyspnoea (83%), followed by cough and chest pain. 29% of patients also had clinical features of DVT. No sign or symptom was seen to be markedly different in those with confirmed PE compared to those without. Among patients with confirmed PE, 37% were HIV positive and 52% had current TB. The retrospective revised Geneva Scores compared poorly with the CTPA results. Discussion: PE remains a diagnostic challenge. Worldwide, the use of CDRs has shown to improve the utilization of CTPA. In our study, the retrospectively calculated CDR was not predictive of PE in a population with a high prevalence of HIV and TB. Emergency physicians should be cautious when making a clinical probability assessment of PE in this setting. However, further studies are needed to determine whether HIV and TB could be independent risk factors for PE.

No description available.