Dear editor,Chest pain is a frequent complaint of patients presenting to the emergency department（ED）, and many of them are referred to the cardiology service for further investigation. At the Charles V. Keating Emergency and Trauma Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 4,800（6.6%） of the approximately 73,000 patients per year register with a complaint of "chest pain",

BackgroundOnabotulinumtoxinA (BTX) has become a mainstream treatment for chronic migraine (CM). Patients often have varied expectations for treatment success but little is known about how these initial impressions influence continuation of therapy.ObjectiveTo record expectations of benefit and procedural discomfort (PD) from initial BTX treatment and to investigate their association with treatment success, defined as continuation of treatment for >3 sessions within a 2‐year period.MethodsA retrospective chart review of CM patients receiving initial treatment with BTX was performed. Patients were questioned about their expectations of benefit and PD as rated on a 0‐10 scale. Responses were then compared with continuation of therapy beyond 3 sessions to identify the presence of significant association.ResultsResponses from patients (N = 297) were analyzed. About 173 subjects continued with BTX therapy for more than 3 sessions (173/297, 58.3%). Unadjusted odds ratios (OR) for expectation of benefit (EOB) (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.99‐1.24, P = .087) and PD (OR 1.02, 95% CI 0.90‐1.16, P = .780) were not significantly predictive of continuing treatment. After considering sex, age, year of treatment, and previous headache preventative trials, only female sex (OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.09‐3.74, P = .025) was found to be significantly associated with treatment continuation.ConclusionsIn the usual care setting, PD and EOB are not significantly associated with therapy continuation in patients receiving initial treatment with BTX for the prevention of CM. However, after considering sex, age, year of treatment, and number of previous headache preventives attempted, we found that female patients had twice the likelihood of continuing with BTX therapy compared to male patients with CM.

Objectives: At the QEII Health Sciences Centre Emergency Department (ED) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, advanced care paramedics (ACPs) perform procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA) for many indications, including orthopedic procedures. We have begun using ACPs as sedationists for emergent upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy. This study compares ACP-performed ED PSA for UGI endoscopy and orthopedic procedures in terms of adverse events, airway intervention, vasopressor requirement, and PSA medication use. Methods: A data set was built from an ED PSA quality control database matching 61 UGI endoscopy PSAs to 183 orthopedic PSAs by propensity scores calculated using age, gender, and the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification. Outcomes assessed were hypotension (systolic BP <100 mm Hg or a 15% decrease from baseline), hypoxia (SaO2 <90%), apnea (>30 sec), vomiting, arrhythmias, death, airway intervention, vasopressor requirement, and PSA medication use. Results: UGI endoscopy patients experienced hypotension more frequently than orthopedic patients (OR =4.11, CI: 2.058.22) and required airway repositioning less often (OR = 0.24, CI: 0.10-0.59). They received ketamine more frequently (OR = 15.7, CI: 4.75-67.7) and fentanyl less often (OR = 0.30, CI: 0.15-0.63) than orthopedic patients. Four endoscopy patients received phenylephrine, and one required intubation. No patient died in either group. Conclusions: In ACP-led sedation for UGI endoscopy and orthopedic procedures, adverse events were rare with the notable exception of hypotension, which was more frequent in the endoscopy group. Only endoscopy patients required vasopressor treatment and intubation. We provide preliminary evidence that ACPs can manage ED PSA for emergent UGI endoscopy, although priorities must shift from pain control to hemodynamic optimization.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect, on birth weight and birth weight centile, of use of the PrenaBelt, a maternal positional therapy device, during sleep in the home setting throughout the third trimester of pregnancy.DesignA double-blind, sham-controlled, randomised clinical trial.SettingConducted from September 2015 to May 2016, at a single, tertiary-level centre in Accra, Ghana.ParticipantsTwo-hundred participants entered the study. One-hundred-eighty-one participants completed the study. Participants were women, 18 to 35 years of age, with low-risk, singleton, pregnancies in their third-trimester, with body mass index <35 kg/m2at the first antenatal appointment for the index pregnancy and without known foetal abnormalities, pregnancy complications or medical conditions complicating sleep.InterventionsParticipants were randomised by computer-generated, one-to-one, simple randomisation to receive either the PrenaBelt or sham-PrenaBelt. Participants were instructed to wear their assigned device to sleep every night for the remainder of their pregnancy (approximately 12 weeks in total) and were provided a sleep diary to track their use. Allocation concealment was by unmarked, security-tinted, sealed envelopes. Participants and the outcomes assessor were blinded to allocation.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe primary outcomes were birth weight and birth weight centile. Secondary outcomes included adherence to using the assigned device nightly, sleeping position, pregnancy outcomes and feedback from participants and maternity personnel.ResultsOne-hundred-sixty-seven participants were included in the primary analysis. The adherence to using the assigned device nightly was 56%. The mean ±SD birth weight in the PrenaBelt group (n=83) was 3191g±483 and in the sham-PrenaBelt group (n=84) was 3081g±484 (difference 110 g, 95% CI −38 to 258, p=0.14). The median (IQR) customised birth weight centile in the PrenaBelt group was 43% (18 to 67) and in the sham-PrenaBelt group was 31% (14 to 58) (difference 7%, 95% CI −2 to 17, p=0.11).ConclusionsThe PrenaBelt did not have a statistically significant effect on birth weight or birth weight centile in comparison to the sham-PrenaBelt.Trial registration numberNCT02379728.

OBJECTIVES:Traditionally, a surgeon has served as trauma team leader (TTL). However, this role is increasingly being performed by emergency medicine (EM) physicians. At the Halifax Infirmary, we utilize a resident TTL (rTTL) under supervision of a staff traumatologist, a duty shared between EM and surgical residents. Our objective was to compare outcomes between cases led by EM and surgical rTTLs.METHODS:This was a retrospective case-control study of data collected from the Nova Scotia Trauma Registry. Eligible cases were attended to by the trauma team from April 4, 2014, to March 31, 2015. Primary outcome of interest was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included hospital admission, hospital length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, ICU LOS, ventilator requirement, operating room use, and time to operating room. Univariate comparisons were made using t-tests and Fisher's test. We used logistic and linear regression to adjust for confounding.RESULTS:A total of 571 patients were included in the analysis. A total of 179 (31.3%) were managed by an EM resident and the remainder were managed by a surgical resident. There was no statistical difference in mortality or secondary outcomes on the crude or adjusted estimates. Eighteen patients (10.1%) in the EM group died compared to 37 (9.4%) in the surgical group.CONCLUSIONS:There was no difference in any patient outcome between cases managed by EM and surgical rTTLs. These findings support the philosophy that both groups are effective as rTTLs and should be trained in trauma leadership. Further research is warranted in introducing the rTTL into other systems.

INTRODUCTION:Death due to opioid overdose was declared a public health crisis in Canada in 2015. Traditionally, patients who have overdosed on opioids that are managed by emergency medical services (EMS) are treated with the opioid antagonist naloxone, provided ventilatory support and subsequently transported to hospital. However, certain EMS agencies have permitted patients who have been reversed from opioid overdose to refuse transport, if the patient exhibits capacity to do so. Evidence on the safety of this practice is limited. Therefore, our intent was to examine the available literature to determine mortality and serious adverse events within 48 hours of EMS treat and release due to suspected rebound opioid toxicity after naloxone administration.METHODS:A systematic search was performed on 11 May 2017 in PubMed, Cochrane Central, Embase and CINHAL. Studies that reported on the outcome of patients treated with prehospital naloxone and released at the scene were included. Analyses for incidence of mortality and adverse events at the scene were conducted. Risk of bias and assessment of publication bias was also done.RESULTS:1401 records were screened after duplicate removal. Eighteen full-text studies were reviewed with seven selected for inclusion. None were found to be high risk of bias. In most studies, heroin was the source of the overdose. Mortality within 48 hours was infrequent with only four deaths among 4912 patients ﴾0.081%﴿ in the seven studies. Only one study reported on adverse events and found no incidence of adverse events from their sample of 71 released patients.CONCLUSION:Mortality or serious adverse events due to suspected rebound toxicity in patients released on scene post-EMS treatment with naloxone were rare. However, studies involving longer-acting opioids were rare and no study involved fentanyl.

PURPOSE:We aimed to evaluate the association between transfusion practices and clinical outcomes in patients with traumatic brain injury. MATERIAL AND METHODS:We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult patients with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a level I trauma center between 2009 and 2013. The associations between hemoglobin (Hb) level, red blood cell (RBC) transfusion and clinical outcomes were estimated using robust Poisson models and proportional hazard models with time-dependent variables, adjusted for confounders. RESULTS:We included 215 patients. Sixty-six patients (30.7%) were transfused during ICU stay. The median pre-transfusion Hb among transfused patients was 81g/L (IQR 67-100), while median nadir Hb among non-transfused patients was 110g/L (IQR 93-123). Poor outcomes were significantly more frequent in patients who were transfused (mortality risk ratio [RR]: 2.15 [95% CI 1.37-3.38] and hazard ratio: 3.06 [95% CI 1.57-5.97]; neurological complications RR: 3.40 [95% CI 1.35-8.56]; trauma complications RR: 1.65 [95% CI 1.31-2.08]; ICU length of stay geometric mean ratio: 1.42 [95% CI 1.06-1.92]). CONCLUSIONS:During ICU stay, transfused patients tended to have lower Hb levels and worse outcomes than patients who did not receive RBCs, after adjustment for confounders.

Objective To evaluate whether the percentage of time spent supine during sleep in the third trimester of pregnancy could be reduced using a positional therapy device (PrenaBelt) compared with a sham device. Design A double-blind, randomised, sham-controlled, cross-over pilot trial. Setting Conducted between March 2016 and January 2017, at a single, tertiary-level centre in Canada. Participants 23 participants entered the study. 20 participants completed the study. Participants were low-risk, singleton, third-trimester pregnant women aged 18 years and older with body mass index <35 kg/m2 at the first antenatal appointment for the index pregnancy and without known fetal abnormalities, pregnancy complications or medical conditions complicating sleep. Interventions A two-night, polysomnography study in a sleep laboratory. Participants were randomised by computer-generated, one-to-one, simple randomisation to receive either a PrenaBelt or a sham-PrenaBelt on the first night and were crossed over to the alternate device on the second night. Allocation concealment was by unmarked, security-tinted, sealed envelopes. Participants, the recruiter and personnel involved in setting up, conducting, scoring and interpreting the polysomnogram were blinded to allocation. Primary and secondary outcome measures The primary outcome was the percentage of time spent supine during sleep. Secondary outcomes included maternal sleep architecture, respiration, self-reported sleep position and feedback. Results The median percentage of sleep time supine was reduced from 16.4% on the sham night to 3.5% on the PrenaBelt night (pseudomedian=5.8, p=0.03). We were unable to demonstrate differences in sleep architecture or respiration. Participants underestimated the time they spent sleeping supine by 7.0%, and six (30%) participants indicated they would make changes to the PrenaBelt. There were no harms in this study. Conclusions This study demonstrates that the percentage of sleep time supine during late pregnancy can be significantly reduced via positional therapy. Trial registration number NCT02377817; Results.

INTRODUCTION:The scene-size-up is a crucial first step in the response to a mass casualty incident (MCI). Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) may potentially enhance the scene-size-up with real-time visual feedback during chaotic, evolving or inaccessible events. We performed this study to test the feasibility of paramedics using UAV video from a simulated MCI to identify scene hazards, initiate patient triage, and designate key operational locations. METHODS:We simulated an MCI, including 15 patients plus 4 hazards, on a college campus. A UAV surveyed the scene, capturing video of all patients, hazards, surrounding buildings and streets. We invited attendees of a provincial paramedic meeting to participate. Participants received a lecture on Sort-Assess-Lifesaving Interventions-Treatment/Transport (SALT) Triage and MCI scene management principles. Next, they watched the UAV video footage. We directed participants to sort patients according to SALT Triage Step One, identify injuries, and to localize the patients within the campus. Additionally, we asked them to select a start point for SALT Triage Step Two, identify and locate hazards, and designate locations for an Incident Command Post, Treatment Area, Transport Area and Access/Egress routes. The primary outcome was the number of correctly allocated triage scores. RESULTS:Ninety-six individuals participated. Mean age was 35 years (SD 11); 46% (44) were female and 49% (47) were Primary Care Paramedics. Most participants (79; 82%) correctly sorted at least 12 of 15 patients. Increased age was associated with decreased triage accuracy [-0.04(-0.07, -0.01); p = 0.031]. Fifty-two (54%) correctly localized 12 or more patients to a 27 × 20m grid area. Advanced paramedic certification, and local residency were associated with improved patient localization [2.47(0.23,4.72); p = 0.031], [3.36(1.10,5.61); p = 0.004]. The majority of participants (70; 81%) chose an acceptable location to start SALT Triage Step Two and 75 (78%) identified at least 3 of 4 hazards. Approximately half (53; 56%) of participants appropriately designated 4 or more of 5 key operational areas. CONCLUSION:This study demonstrates the ability of UAV technology to remotely facilitate the scene size-up in an MCI. Additional research is required to further investigate optimal strategies to deploy UAVs in this context.

Department of Critical Care (R.S.G., M.B.B., M.E.), Dalhousie University and Trauma Nova Scotia Halifax, Canada.

# Survivors of traumatic cardiac arrest. {#article-title-2} Traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) carries high mortality and morbidity. Survival is poor. Recent studies suggest the rate of morbidity and mortality due to TCA is approaching the same as that due to any other cause of cardiac arrest. The

# Process mapping as a framework for performance improvement in emergency general surgery {#article-title-2} Emergency general surgery conditions are often thought of as being too acute and unpredictable for the development of standardized approaches to quality improvement (QI). However, process

Critics have raised concerns regarding the validity of maintenance of certification (MOC) programs. We sought to examine the quality of the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) selected for the lifelong learning and self‐assessment (LLS) component of the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) MOC program.

BACKGROUND Postintubation hypotension (PIH) is common and associated with poor outcomes in critically ill patient populations requiring emergency endotracheal intubation (ETI). The importance of PIH in the trauma population remains unclear. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of PIH in trauma patients and assess the association of PIH with patient outcomes. METHODS Retrospective case series of adult (≥16 years) patients who were intubated on arrival at a tertiary trauma center in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, between 2000 and 2015. Data were collected from the Nova Scotia Trauma Registry and patient chart, and included demographics, comorbidities, trauma characteristics, intubation time, as well as all fluids, medications, adverse events, interventions, and vital signs during the 15 minutes before/after ETI. We evaluated the prevalence of PIH and created a logistic regression model to determine likelihood of mortality in the PIH and non-PIH groups after controlling for patient and provider characteristics. RESULTS Overall, 477 patients required ETI on assessment by the trauma service, of which 444 patients met eligibility criteria and were included in the analysis. The prevalence of PIH was 36.3% (161 of 444) in our study population. In-hospital mortality occurred in 29.8% (48 of 161) of patients in the PIH group, compared with 15.9% (45 of 283) of patients in the non-PIH group (p = 0.001). Development of PIH was associated with increased mortality in the emergency department (adjusted odds ratio, 3.45; 95% confidence interval, 1.42–8.36) and in-hospital (adjusted odds ratio, 1.83; 95% confidence interval, 1.01–3.31). CONCLUSION In our study of trauma patients requiring ETI, development of PIH was common (36.3%) and associated with increased mortality. Intubation practices in critically ill trauma patients is an important patient safety issue that requires further investigation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic and epidemiological, level III; Level IV, Therapeutic.

PURPOSE:To describe opioid use before and after intensive care unit (ICU) admission and to identify factors associated with chronic opioid use upto 4 years after ICU discharge. METHODS:Retrospective review of adult patients admitted to the ICU at a tertiary care center between January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2008. We defined "nonuser," "intermittent," and "chronic" opioid status by abstinence, use in <70%, and >70% of days for a given time period, respectively. We assessed opioid use at 3 months prior to ICU admission, at discharge, and annually for upto 4 years following ICU discharge. RESULTS:A total of 2595 ICU patients were included for surgical (48.6%), medical (38.4%), and undetermined (13%) indications. The study population included both elective (26.9%) and emergent (73.1%) admissions. Three months prior to ICU admission, 76.9% were nonusers, 16.9% used opioids intermittently, and 6.2% used opioids chronically. We found an increase in nonuser patients from 87.8% in the early post-ICU period to 95.6% at 48-month follow-up. Consequently, intermittent and chronic opioid use dropped to 8.6% and 3.6% at discharge and 2.6% and 1.8% at 48-month follow-up, respectively. Prolonged hospital length of stay was associated with chronic opioid use. CONCLUSION:Admission to ICU and duration of ICU stay were not associated with chronic opioid use.

Background: Eustachian tube (ET) dysfunction can be very difficult to diagnose accurately. Our aim is to determine whether a newly developed sonotubometric test using clicks can reliably detect ET opening during swallowing in normal ET subjects, and patulous ET (PET) in subjects with ET dysfunction.Methods: Sixteen subjects (19 normal ET ears and 6 PET ears) were individually placed in a sound-isolated audiometry booth and subjected to a 1000Hz click train stimulus, played through the nose. PET subjects were identified through the ET clinic at our institution, while healthy subjects were recruited. Transmission through the ET was recorded by a microphone in the ear ipsilateral to the presenting nostril, during no swallow and swallow states, and this was used to compute a power ratio (power in the frequency range of interest to the whole frequency range). The power transmission ratio both before and after the swallow was averaged, and represented the baseline (BaseR). The power transmission ratio during swallow represented the peak (PeakR). The same process was repeated in the absence of a stimulus to account for swallowing noise. Wilcoxon rank rum tests were performed to determine statistical significance.Results: It was found that for healthy ET patients, the median difference between the PeakR and BaseR was 0.51 (p = 0.004). For the PET patients in this study, the median difference between the PeakR and the BaseR was 3.30 (p = 0.041). Comparing the baseline between groups revealed that PET patients had a median BaseR 1.05 higher than healthy ET patients. PET patients had a median PeakR of 3.84 higher than healthy ET patients. Both were deemed to be statistically significant (p = 0.003, p = 0.003 respectively). A significant difference was found between median PeakR for the stimulus and no-stimulus condition for the healthy ET group (0.59, p < 0.001) and for the PET group (4.39, p = 0.031), indicating that it was unlikely that swallowing noise caused false positive results.Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that a novel click stimulus is capable of detecting ET opening during swallowing in healthy patients as well as highlighting PET in diseased subjects.

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia treated in the emergency department (ED), with primary electrical cardioversion (PEC) the preferred method of rhythm control. Anecdotally, patients undergoing ED procedural sedation (EDPS) for PEC differ from those requiring EDPS for other procedures: they are at higher risk of adverse events, and require fewer drugs and lower doses. We attempt to verify this using an EDPS registry at a Canadian, tertiary care teaching hospital. METHODS This is a retrospective review of patients that underwent EDPS for the period of June 2006 to September 2014. We compared demographics, medication use and intra-procedural adverse events between those receiving EDPS for PEC for AF compared to that for other indications. We report the asssociation between AEs and predictors using logistic regression. RESULTS A total of 4 867 patients were included, 714 for PEC for AF and 4 153 for other indications. PEC patients were more likely male (58.5% vs. 47.1%), older (59.5 years vs. 48.1 years), and less likely to be ASA I (46.6% vs. 69.0%). PEC patients received smaller doses of propofol and less likely to receive adjuvant analgesic therapy (11.5% vs. 78.2%). PEC patients were more likely to experience hypotension (27.6% vs. 16.5%) but respiratory AEs (apnea, hypoxia and airway intervention) were not different. CONCLUSION EDPS for PEC differs from that conducted for other purposes: patients tend to be less healthy, receive smaller doses of medication and more likely to suffer hypotension without an increase in respiratory AEs. These factors should be considered when performing EDPS.

# Characteristics of early analgesia in adults presenting with acute trauma to a level 1 trauma centre. {#article-title-2} Acute pain is one of the most common symptoms experienced by patients following trauma, yet under two-thirds receive analgesic medication when presenting to the emergency

OBJECTIVESVarious medications and devices are available for facilitation of emergent endotracheal intubations (EETIs). The objective of this study was to survey which medications and devices are being utilized for intubation by Canadian physicians.METHODSA clinical scenario-based survey was developed to determine which medications physicians would administer to facilitate EETI, their first choice of intubation device, and backup strategy should their first choice fail. The survey was distributed to Canadian emergency medicine (EM) and intensive care unit (ICU) physicians using web-based and postal methods. Physicians were asked questions based on three scenarios (trauma; pneumonia; heart failure) and responded using a 5-point scale ranging from "always" to "never" to capture usual practice.RESULTSThe survey response rate was 50.2% (882/1,758). Most physicians indicated a Macintosh blade with direct laryngoscopy would "always/often" be their first choice of intubation device in the three scenarios (mean 85% [79%-89%]) followed by video laryngoscopy (mean 37% [30%-49%]). The most common backup device chosen was an extraglottic device (mean 59% [56%-60%]). The medications most physicians would "always/often" administer were fentanyl (mean 45% [42%-51%]) and etomidate (mean 38% [25%-50%]). EM physicians were more likely than ICU physicians to paralyze patients for EETI (adjusted odds ratio 3.40; 95% CI 2.90-4.00).CONCLUSIONSMost EM and ICU physicians utilize direct laryngoscopy with a Macintosh blade as a primary device for EETI and an extraglottic device as a backup strategy. This survey highlights variation in Canadian practice patterns for some aspects of intubation in critically ill patients.