Towards evidence-based emergency medicine: best BETs from the Manchester Royal Infirmary. BET 1: what prognostic factors can predict outcomes of methamphetamine body stuffers?

A short-cut review was carried out to establish which clinical parameters are useful in predicting outcome in patients who present having body packed metamphetamine. Eleven papers were found using the reported searches, of which one presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of that best paper are tabulated. It is concluded that there is a greater likelihood of severe outcomes if the presenting pulse is greater than 120 or the presenting temperature is greater than 38°C.