Department Blog - September 2018

Posted 9/21/2018 by Linda Kesselring

Treating Opioid Addiction with Buprenorphine in the ED

Dr. Zachary Dezman is featured in an article published today by The PEW Charitable Trusts:

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2018/09/21/most-hospital-ers-wont-treat-your-addiction-these-will


Posted 9/14/2018 by Linda Kesselring

Dr. Dezman on Fox45 News This Morning

Zachary Dezman, MD, MS, MS, was a guest on today's morning news broadcast from Fox45, discussing the surprising results of a study designed to identify drugs used by ED patients being treated for overdose. You can watch the full segment here:

https://foxbaltimore.com/morning/synthetic-drug-testing

Marijuana was the individual drug most commonly detected. Only one sample tested positive for a synthetic cannabinoid. The results suggest that street drugs are being packaged in new combinations not detected by standard ED tests. The investigators also found that the drugs patients claimed to have taken (and the drugs the physicians assumed they had taken) often did not match the metabolites detected by the analysis.

The study and its findings are more fully described at this site:

https://ndews.umd.edu/resources/drug-early-warning-re-testing-biological-samples-maryland-hospital-study


Jenny Guyther, MD, and Rich Lichenstein, MD, are the lead authors of the article titled "Association of Influenza Outbreaks with Advanced Pediatric Medical Support," published in the August issue of Epidemiology & Infection (2018;146:1366-71). Their study documented increased hospitalizations and ICU admissions as well as the use of mechanical ventilation during influenza outbreaks by children with medically attended acute respiratory illness.


Posted 9/1/2018 by Linda Kesselring

Treating Alcohol Abuse in Tanzania

Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, PhD, participated in a research collaboration between Duke University Medical Center and Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center in Moshi, Tanzania. The purpose of the NIH-funded study was to assess attitudes and practices among emergency care providers in Tanzania regarding the use of interventions for their alcohol-abusing patients. The findings will be applied to the design of educational programs for medical personnel and strategies to reduce alcohol consumption among people who seek emergency medical care. Observations from this study are published in the September issue of the journal Alcohol.