Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36995396›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society2023

Acute abdominal pain at referral emergency departments: an analysis of performance of three time-dependent quality indicators.

Triinu Keskpaik, Peep Talving, Ülle Kirsimägi, Vladislav Mihnovitš, Anni Ruul, Joel Starkopf

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Article in European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact, top 93% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 0 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Triinu KeskpaikDepartment of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia. triinu.keskpaik@kliinikum.ee.
Peep TalvingDepartment of Surgery, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
Ülle KirsimägiDepartment of Surgery, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia.
Vladislav MihnovitšDepartment of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia.
Anni RuulDepartment of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia.
Joel StarkopfDepartment of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia.
Tartu University Hospital · EENorth Estonia Medical Centre · EE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAbdominal pain is one of the most frequent causes for emergency department (ED) visits. The quality of care and outcomes are determined by time-dependent interventions with barriers to implementation at crowded EDs.

objectivesThe study aimed to analyze three prominent quality indicators (QI) including pain assessment (QI1), analgesia in patients reporting severe pain (QI2), and ED length of stay (LOS) (QI3) in adult patients requiring immediate or urgent care due to acute abdominal pain. We aimed to characterize current practice regarding pain management, and we hypothesized that extended ED LOS (≥ 360 min) is associated with poor outcomes in this cohort of ED referrals.

methodsThis is a retrospective cohort study enrolling all patients with acute abdominal pain as the main cause of ED presentation, triage category red, orange, or yellow, and age ≥ 30 years during two months period. Univariate and multivariable analyses were deployed to determine independent risk factors for QIs performance. For QI1 and QI2, compliance with the QIs were analyzed, while 30-day mortality was set as primary outcome for QI3.

resultsOverall, 965 patients were analyzed including 501 (52%) males with a mean age of 61.8 years. Seventeen percent (167/965) of the patients had immediate or very urgent triage category. Age ≥ 65 years, and red and orange triage categories were risk factors for non-compliance with pain assessment. Seventy four per cent of patients with severe pain (numeric rating scale ≥ 7) received analgesia during the ED visit, in median within 64 min (IQR 35-105 min). Age ≥ 65 years and need for surgical consultation were risk factors for prolonged ED stay. After adjustment to age, gender and triage category, ED LOS ≥ 360 min proved to be independent risk factor for 30-day mortality (HR 1.89, 95% CI 1.71-3.40, p = 0.034).

conclusionOur investigation identified that non-compliance with pain assessment, analgesia and ED length of stay among patients presenting with abdominal pain to ED results in poor quality of care and detrimental outcomes. Our data support enhanced quality-assessment initiatives for this subset of ED patients.

Indexed as

Abdomen, AcuteQuality Indicators, Health CareAbdominal PainAdultAgedEmergency Service, HospitalFemaleHumansLength of StayMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesTriageAcute abdominal painEmergency departmentQuality indicators

Identifiers

PMID36995396
OpenAlexW4361273953

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.