Atthasit Komindr, Christopher W Baugh, Shamai A Grossman and J Stephen Bohan

International Journal of Emergency Medicine 2014, 7:6

To improve efficiency, emergency departments (EDs) use dedicated observation units (OUs) to manage patients who are unable to be discharged home, yet do not clearly require inpatient hospitalization. However, operational metrics and their ideal targets have not been created for this setting and patient population. Variation in these metrics across different countries has not previously been reported. This study aims to define and compare key operational characteristics between three ED OUs in the United States (US) and three ED OUs in Asia.

Khrongwong Musikatavorn MD, Ploykaew Tansangngam MD

American Journal of Emergency Medicine (2012) 30, 1737–1742

Acute, severe dyspeptic pain is a common condition in the emergency department. Despite the traditional “GI cocktail” (GI indicates gastrointestinal), an intravenous (IV) proton pump inhibitor (PPI), a novel acid-lowering drug, has recently been used to treat this condition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the immediate effect of IV pantoprazole in addition to the conventional GI cocktail in the relief of severe dyspeptic pain.