Annals of emergency medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
A comparison of blind nasotracheal and succinylcholine-assisted intubation in the poisoned patient.
In the patient obtunded by drug intoxication, the optimal method of airway protection prior to gastric emptying is not clear. We report a prospective randomized trial of two methods of intubation in this patient population. Fifty-two overdose patients with Glascow Coma Scale scores of 12 or less were intubated either orotracheally after succinylcholine administration or nasotracheally. ⋯ Sixty-nine percent of the BNI group experienced epistaxis, 17% had vomiting, and 10% aspirated. We conclude that SAI is a safe and effective method of airway protection in the obtunded poisoned patient. Complications and difficulty in intubation were significantly less with SAI than with blind nasotracheal intubation.
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Comparative Study
Cardiopulmonary bypass after cardiac arrest and prolonged closed-chest CPR in dogs.
We studied a clinically realistic field-to-hospital scenario in dogs with four-minute ventricular fibrillation (VF) cardiac arrest followed by 30-minute standard external CPR basic life support (BLS). At the end of this 34-minute insult, cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was used for early defibrillation and assisted circulation for one hour (n = 10). Recovery was compared with that of control dogs (n = 10) in which standard CPR with advanced life support (ALS) for another 30 minutes was used for restoration of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). ⋯ Between two and 24 hours, of those with ROSC, cardiac complications killed three of ten CPB dogs (after weaning), and two of five CPR-ALS dogs (NS). All seven CPB survivors to 72 hours were neurologically normal; of the three CPR-ALS survivors, one remained with severe neurologic deficit and two were neurologically normal (seven of ten CPB vs two of ten controls, P = .025). Starting CPR-BLS within four minutes of arrest can maintain cerebral viability.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Comparative Study
Cardiopulmonary bypass after prolonged cardiac arrest in dogs.
Ventricular fibrillation (VF) cardiac arrest of more than ten minutes can be survived by cerebral neurons, but restoration of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) by external CPR is unreliable. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) permits control of pressure, flow, oxygenation, temperature, and composition of blood. After 12 1/2 minutes of normothermic VF cardiac arrest, CPB was used as a research tool for reperfusion and assisted circulation for two hours in ten dogs without thoracotomy, with plasma substitute priming, and without preceding CPR (a deliberately nonclinical scenario). ⋯ CPB was followed by fewer arrhythmias. CPB increased recovery of consciousness (five of ten CPB vs zero of six controls with ROSC) (P = .037), but achieved neurologic normality in only one of ten. Cardiac arrest and CPB (without CPR) resulted in less myocardial morphologic damage than did standard CPR (P less than .025).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Randomized trial of pneumatic antishock garments in the prehospital management of penetrating abdominal injuries.
Experimental data have suggested that pneumatic external counterpressure improves outcome in intra-abdominal hemorrhage by either a tamponade effect and/or elevation in central systemic blood pressure. As a result, the empiric use of the pneumatic antishock garment (PASG) has become a standard of care, even to the point where the device has been legislated as required equipment on emergency medical rescue vehicles. However, the effect of the PASG on intra-abdominal hemorrhage has not been evaluated in randomized clinical trials. ⋯ The resulting study populations (control, n = 104; PASG, n = 97) were found to be well matched for survival probability indices, prehospital response and transport times, and the volume of IV fluids received. The results demonstrated no significant difference in the survival rates of the control and PASG treatment groups (81 of 104 vs 67 of 97). From these data we conclude that, contrary to previous claims, the PASG provides no significant advantage in improving survival in the urban prehospital management of penetrating abdominal injuries.