Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine最新文献

Following the 2011 ban on paraquat sales, Korea has witnessed a significant reduction in the mortality rate associated with acute pesticide poisoning. Traditionally, paraquat and diquat, alongside several highly toxic organophosphates, carbamates, and organochlorine insecticides, have been recognized as culprits in causing fatalities among patients with acute pesticide poisoning. However, despite global efforts to curtail the use of these highly toxic pesticides, certain pesticides still exhibit a level of lethality surpassing their established clinical toxicity profiles. Understanding the clinical progression of these pesticides is paramount for physicians and toxicologists, as it holds the potential to enhance patient prognoses in cases of acute poisoning. This review aims to address the persistence of such highly lethal pesticides, which continue to pose a grave threat to victims of acute poisoning.

In a prehospital setting, the narrow therapeutic window of epinephrine necessitates its cautious administration to avoid anaphylaxis. In this case, a 46-year-old man presented severe anaphylactic symptoms. Following the standard protocol, the emergency medical technician (EMT) administered intramuscular epinephrine; however, symptoms persisted. Under the oversight of the emergency medical services (EMS) medical director, an additional intravenous bolus of epinephrine was administered, unfortunately leading to atrial fibrillation. This case underscores the potential risks of intravenous epinephrine, which is not typically recommended for anaphylaxis without continuous monitoring. Since 2019, Korea has initiated a pilot program to expand the EMT scope of practice, which gives them the authority to administer epinephrine for anaphylaxis. The ultimate decision regarding epinephrine use for anaphylaxis, emphasizing patient safety, rests with the EMS medical director. Proper training for EMTs, coupled with the EMS medical director's comprehensive knowledge and meticulous protocol adherence, can ensure patient safety and optimal outcomes.

Objective: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a vascular disease that is most frequently diagnosed using the radiological imaging technique computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA). In this study, we aimed to demonstrate the diagnostic accuracy of the Hounsfield unit (HU) for PE based on the hypothesis that acute thrombosis causes an increase in HU value on CT.

Methods: This research was a single-center, retrospective study. Patients presenting to the emergency department diagnosed with PE on CTPA were enrolled as the study group. Patients admitted to the same emergency department who were not diagnosed with PE and had noncontrast CT scans were included as the control group. A receiver operating curve was produced to determine the diagnostic accuracy of HU values in predicting PE.

Results: The study population (n=74) consisted of a study group (n=46) and a control group (n=28). The sensitivity and specificity of the HU value for predicting PE on thoracic CT were as follows: for the right main pulmonary artery, 61.5% and 96.4% at a value of 54.8 (area under the curve [AUC], 0.690); for the left main pulmonary artery, 65.0% and 96.4% at a value of 55.9 (AUC, 0.736); for the right interlobar artery, 44.4% and 96.4% at a value of 62.7 (AUC, 0.615); and for the left interlobar artery, 60.0% and 92.9% at a value of 56.7 (AUC, 0.736).

Conclusion: HU may exhibit high diagnostic specificity on CT for thrombi up to the interlobar level. An HU value exceeding 54.8 up to the interlobar level may raise suspicion of the presence of PE.

Objective: Effective triage of febrile patients in the emergency department is crucial during times of overcrowding to prioritize care and allocate resources, especially during pandemics. However, available triage tools often require laboratory data and lack accuracy. We aimed to develop a simple and accurate triage tool for febrile patients by modifying the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 7,303 febrile patients and created modified versions of qSOFA using factors identified through multivariable analysis. The performance of these modified qSOFAs in predicting in-hospital mortality and intensive care unit (ICU) admission was compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC).

Results: Through multivariable analysis, the identified factors were age ("A" factor), male sex ("M" factor), oxygen saturation measured by pulse oximetry (SpO2; "S" factor), and lactate level ("L" factor). The AUROCs of ASqSOFA (in-hospital mortality: 0.812 [95% confidence interval, 0.789-0.835]; ICU admission: 0.794 [95% confidence interval, 0.771-0.817]) were simple and not inferior to those of other more complex models (e.g., ASMqSOFA, ASLqSOFA, and ASMLqSOFA). ASqSOFA also displayed significantly higher AUROC than other triage scales, such as the Modified Early Warning Score and Korean Triage and Acuity Scale. The optimal cutoff score of ASqSOFA for the outcome was 2, and the score for redistribution to a lower level emergency department was 0.

Conclusion: We demonstrated that ASqSOFA can be employed as a simple and efficient triage tool for emergency febrile patients to aid in resource distribution during overcrowding. It also may be applicable in prehospital settings for febrile patient triage.