Background/Aims: Barrett’s esophagus (BE) is characterized by intestinal metaplasia in the distal esophagus. The aims of this study are to: (1) Compare baseline distal esophageal impedance (DEI) using high-resolution esophageal manometry with impedance (HREMI) in patients with BE, esophagitis, and healthy volunteers and (2) Correlate length of low impedance on HREMI in patients with BE to the length of endoscopic BE. Methods: Patients with BE or esophagitis who underwent HREMI were included. Ten volunteers had HREMI. Baseline DEI was calculated from HREMI using the landmark segment. In patients with BE, the impedance was plotted to measure the extent of plotted low impedance (PLI) and visual low impedance (VLI). Lengths of VLI and PLI were correlated to endoscopic length of BE by Prague score. Results: Forty-five patients were included (16 BE; 19 esophagitis; 10 volunteers). BE patients had lower baseline DEI at the first, second, and third sensors above the lower esophageal sphincter (mean ± SEM: 1.37 ± 0.45, 0.97 ± 0.27, and 0.81 ± 0.20) compared to volunteers (8.73 ± 0.60, 8.20 ± 0.73, and 6.94 ± 0.99; P < 0.001). Baseline DEI was lower in BE than esophagitis patients (2.98 ± 0.65, 2.49 ± 0.56, and 2.01 ± 0.51) at the first, second, and third sensors (P < 0.052 for second and third sensors); ie, BE < esophagitis < controls. PLI and VLI had a stronger correlation to circumferential score (r2 = 0.84 and 0.83) than maximal score (r2 = 0.76 and 0.68). Conclusions Baseline DEI is lower in BE compared with esophagitis and healthy volunteers. The length of low impedance correlates to the endoscopic extent of BE. Thus, impedance values during HREMI may help suggest the presence and extent of BE or esophagitis.

BACKGROUND: Numerous medical conditions require timely medication administration in the emergency department (ED). Automated dispensing systems (ADSs) store premixed common doses at the point-of-care to minimize time to administration, but the use of such automation to improved time to medication administration has not been studied. Since vancomycin is a commonly used empiric antimicrobial, we sought to quantify the effect of using an ADS on time to drug delivery in patients presenting to the ED. The study aimed to determine the efficacy of utilizing an ADS to improve time to administration of vancomycin and determine any negative effects on dosing appropriateness.METHODS: The institional review board approved the retrospective quality improvement study took place in a single, urban academic tertiary care ED with an annual census of 80000. Study subjects were all patients receiving vancomycin for the management of sepsis between March 1 to September 30, 2008 and the same time period in 2009. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients who received vancomycin within one hour of bed placement and the secondary outcome was dosing appropriateness.RESULTS: Sixty-three patients had weight and dosing information available (29 before and 34 after intervention) and were included in the study. Before intervention, no patient received vancomycin in less than 60 minutes, while after intervention 14.7％ of the patients received it in less than 60 minutes (difference in proportions 14.7％, 95％ CI 0.39％-30.0％, P=0.04). A similar proportion of the patients received correct dosing before and after intervention (44.8％ vs. 41.2％, difference in proportions 3.7％, 95％ CI -20.0％-26.7％, P=0.770).CONCLUSION: The use of an ADS may improve the timing of medication administration in patients presenting to the ED without affecting dosing appropriateness.