Prehospital aeromedical point-of-care lactate measurement levels ≥ 4 mmol/L may help stratify mortality. Further investigation is needed, as this is a small, limited study. The initial analysis did not find a significant change in post-transport management.

Severe forms of sepsis are major contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide, with mortality rates as high as 25%-60%. 1 Sepsis with hypotension and septic shock, which we define as sepsis with a systolic blood pressure ≤ 90 mm Hg that is refractory to an initial fluid bolus, 2 are important subsets of sepsis and are medical emergencies for which timeliness of care is crucial. The literature demonstrates that early administration of antibiotics provides a significant mortality benefit in both conditions. 1 Emergency medical services (EMS) personnel treat the majority of sepsis with hypotension and septic shock cases. 2 Consequently, oversight entities, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, are recognizing that EMS providers are an important link in ensuring timely care for patients with sepsis. 3 A natural extension of current initiatives to reduce time to antibiotic administration in patients who exhibit sepsis with hypotension or septic shock is to consider implementing prehospital administration of antibiotics.Research regarding the feasibility of this practice and its effectiveness has primarily been performed in Europe. [4][5][6] Few American systems have begun examining similar prehospital antibiotic administration protocols. 7,8 These early studies have demonstrated evidence of improved patient outcomes including shorter intensive care unit (ICU) lengths of stay. 7,8 The primary aim of our investigation was to describe the safety and feasibility of a protocol for prehospital recognition of sepsis with hypotension and septic shock, drawing of blood cultures, and administration of intravenous (IV) antibiotics in an urban EMS service, thereby adding to the limited U.S. literature available on this subject and supporting the development of a large-scale randomized control trial (RCT). Primary feasibility measures included the frequency of allergic reactions, culture contamination, and paramedic adherence to the protocol in the prehospital environment. Revised Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE 2.0) were used to report the findings of this preliminary result. 9This pilot study was conducted at a large urban academic medical center under a state-granted special project waiver for the protocol implementation. This two-armed project consisted of a retrospective chart review for the historical cohort and a prospective observational study for the interventional arm.

Single-view and four-view chest wall USs demonstrate comparable sensitivity and specificity for PTX. The additional time to obtain four views should be weighed against the absence of additional diagnostic yield over a single view when using US to identify a clinically significant PTX.

Objectives-Soft tissue abscesses are common in the pediatric emergency department (ED). Ultrasound (US) can be used to both diagnose soft tissue abscesses as well as guide drainage. We hypothesized that clinical failure rates would be less in pediatric patients with suspected skin abscesses when evaluated with US.Methods-We performed a retrospective review of suspected pediatric skin abscesses at 4 EDs over a 22-month period. Cases were identified through electronic medical record descriptions, discharge diagnoses, and US database records. Data on US use, findings, and outcomes were abstracted to an electronic database. Comparisons between groups included US versus non-US (primary outcome) as well as surgical drainage vs nonsurgical drainage (secondary outcome).Results-A total of 377 patients were seen with concern for a potential skin abscess; 141 patients (37.4%) underwent US imaging during their visit, and 239 (63.4%) underwent incision and drainage (I&D) during their ED stay: 90 with US and 149 without. The failure rate for patients evaluated with US was significantly lower than that for those evaluated without US (4.4% versus 15.6%; P < .005). Thirty-four (11.3%) of the 302 patients with a diagnosis of an abscess failed therapy: 19 (8.2%) after I&D and 15 (21.1%) after nonsurgical management. Failure after I&D was associated with a smaller abscess cavity on US imaging (17.2 versus 44.8 mm 3 ; P < .05).Conclusions-The use of US for patients with a suspected skin abscess was associated with a reduction in the amount of clinical failure rates after both surgical drainage and nonsurgical therapy. Ultrasound should be used when evaluating or treating patients with abscesses.

Study objective: We hypothesize that clinical failure rates will be lower in patients treated with point-of-care ultrasonography and incision and drainage compared with those who undergo incision and drainage after physical examination alone. Methods:We performed a prospective randomized clinical trial of patients presenting with a soft tissue abscess at a large, academic emergency department. Patients presenting with an uncomplicated soft tissue abscess requiring incision and drainage were eligible for enrollment and randomized to treatment with or without point-of-care ultrasonography. The diagnosis of an abscess was by physical examination, bedside ultrasonography, or both. Patients randomized to the point-of-care ultrasonography group had an incision and drainage performed with bedside ultrasonographic imaging of the abscess. Patients randomized to the non-pointof-care ultrasonography group had an incision and drainage performed with physical examination alone. Comparison between groups was by comparing means with 95% confidence intervals. The primary outcome was failure of therapy at 10 days, defined as a repeated incision and drainage, following a per-protocol analysis. Multivariate analysis was performed to control for study variables. Our study was designed to detect a clinically important difference between groups, which we defined as a 13% difference.Results: A total of 125 patients were enrolled, 63 randomized to the point-of-care ultrasonography group and 62 to physical examination alone. After loss to follow-up and misallocation, 54 patients in the ultrasonography group and 53 in the physical examination alone group were analyzed. The overall failure rate for all patients enrolled in the study was 10.3%. Patients who were evaluated with ultrasonography were less likely to fail therapy and have repeated incision and drainage, with a difference between groups of 13.3% (95% confidence interval 0.0% to 19.4%). Abscess locations were predominantly torso (21%), buttocks (21%), lower extremity (18%), and axilla or groin (16%). There was no difference in baseline characteristics between groups relative to abscess size, duration of symptoms before presentation, percentage with cellulitis, and treatment with antibiotics.Conclusion: Patients with soft tissue abscesses who were undergoing incision and drainage with point-of-care ultrasonography demonstrated less clinical failure compared with those treated without point-of-care ultrasonography.