OBJECTIVES: This was a before and after study which sought to assess the impact of opening an @entity2613 short stay unit (ESSU) on the @entity2613 performance of poisoned @entity1 . METHODS: Data was collected from two groups of adult @entity1 presenting to an @entity2613 with a tertiary referral inpatient Toxicology unit from the 2009 and 2012 calendar years, to assess the impact of the ESSU. The toxicology unit clinical database and hospital electronic medical records were interrogated for demographic, clinical and hospital flow details of presentations. The primary outcome was @entity2613 length of stay (LOS). Other outcomes included proportion of @entity1 remaining in @entity2613 for their admission, 28day re-presentations and hospital LOS. RESULTS: During 2009, 795 @entity1 met inclusion criteria, and during 2012, 762. The median LOS in @entity2613 was reduced from 8.5 h (IQR: 4.7-14 h) to 2.7 h (IQR: 1.6-4.6; p<0.0001). The proportion of @entity1 remaining in @entity2613 for their entire hospital stay was reduced from 515/795 (65%) to 56/762 (7.3%) [Absolute difference: 57%; 95% CI: 53 to 62%; p<0.0001]. Total hospital LOS increased from 14.5 h (IQR: 8.4-21.8 h) to 16.7 h (IQR: 11.5-23; p<0.0001), but there was a decrease in re-presentations with self-poisoning within 28days from 6.9% in 2009 to 4.5% in 2012 (p<0.038). There was no difference between disposition destination or toxins causing exposure between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The ESSU led to a significant improvement in @entity2613 performance of poisoned @entity1 . It also potentially assisted in reducing @entity2613 overcrowding.

Impact of an emergency short stay unit on emergency department performance of poisoned XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity2613 :: ('MESH:C536181', 'Disease') :: ['ED']
@entity1 :: (9606,Species) :: ['patients']
