1.
Experiences and outcomes of women with bleeding in early pregnancy presenting to the Emergency Department: An integrative review
Trostian B, Curtis K, McCloughen A, Shepherd B, Munroe B, Davis W, Hirst E, Tracy SK
Australasian emergency care. 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND Bleeding in early pregnancy occurs in approximately a quarter of all pregnancies and is a common reason for presentation to the Emergency Department (ED). This review combined current knowledge about experiences, interventions, outcomes and frequency of women presenting to the ED with per vaginal (PV) bleeding in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. METHODS This integrative literature review was conducted using electronic database and hand searching methods for primary research published from 2000; followed by screening and appraisal. Articles were compared and grouped to identify characteristics and patterns that guided the synthesis of categories. RESULTS Forty-two primary research articles met inclusion criteria. Four main categories related to experiences and outcomes of women with bleeding in early pregnancy presenting to the ED were identified: presentation frequency and characteristics; women and their partners' experiences in the ED; interventions and treatments; patient and health service outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Negative and often frustrating experiences are reported by women experiencing PV bleeding, their partners and ED healthcare providers. While strategies such as early pregnancy assessment services contribute to improved outcomes, the availability of these services vary. Further research is needed to identify specific needs of this group of women and their partners, and the staff providing their care in the ED, to inform strategies for improved quality of care.
2.
What is the impact of prehospital blood product administration for patients with catastrophic haemorrhage: an integrative review
Shand S, Curtis K, Dinh M, Burns B
Injury. 2018
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Catastrophic haemorrhage is recognised as the leading cause of preventable death in trauma and is also prevalent in medical and other surgical aetiology. Prehospital blood product transfusion is increasingly available for both military and civilian emergency teams. Hospitals have well-established massive transfusion protocols for the resuscitation of this patient group, however the use and impact in the prehospital field is less understood. AIM: To identify and evaluate the current knowledge surrounding prehospital blood product administration for patients with catastrophic haemorrhage. METHODS The integrative review method included systematic searching of online databases Medline, EMBASE, SCOPUS and CINAHL alongside hand-searching for primary research articles published prior to 19 November 2018. Papers were included if the population studied patients with catastrophic haemorrhage who received prehospital transfusion of blood products. The level of evidence and quality was evaluated using the NHMRC hierarchy of evidence. All identified full text articles were reviewed by all authors. RESULTS Twenty-two papers were included in the final analysis, including both civilian (16) and military (6) practice. The earliest publication for prehospital transfusion was 1999, with increasing prevalence in recent years. Findings were extracted and into two main categories; (1) transfusion processes included team staffing, product selection, and criteria for transfusion and (2) transfusion outcomes; transfusion safety, haemoglobin, hospital intervention and mortality. DISCUSSION The level of evidence specific to prehospital blood product transfusion is low, with predominantly retrospective methods and rarely sufficient sample sizes to reach statistical significance. Prehospital research is challenged by clinical and logistical variability preventing accurate cohort matching, sample sizes and inconsistent data collection. Evaluation of prehospital transfusion in isolation is also particularly problematic as multiple factors and developments in clinical practice affect patient outcomes and all samples were subject to survival bias. Conclusion The volume and strength of the available evidence prevents accurate evaluation of the intervention and definitive practice recommendations however prehospital transfusion is shown to be logistically achievable and without serious incident. The reviewed evidence broadly supports the translation of recent in-hospital studies, such as PROMTT and PROPPR. Further research specific to prehospital practice is required to guide the development of evidence-based protocols.