The American journal of emergency medicine
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Overall medication-related errors in the emergency department (ED) are 13.5 times more likely to occur in the absence of an emergency medicine pharmacist (EMP). Although the effectiveness of pharmacist-driven renal dosing adjustment has been studied in the intensive care unit, data are lacking in the ED setting. The aim of our study was to evaluate the appropriateness of antibiotic dosing when an EMP is physically present in the ED compared to when absent. ⋯ Antibiotics that require renal and/or weight dosing adjustment are 6.5 times more likely to be appropriate in the ED when an EMP is present. Prevalence of antibiotic dosing error is related to both the presence of EMPs and the degree of renal impairment.
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Cyclosporine A (CsA) was neuroprotective in the settings of traumatic brain injury and stroke. We sought to investigate the protective effects of CsA and hypothermia on neuronal mitochondria after cardiac arrest. ⋯ CsA or hypothermia used immediately after resuscitation enhanced mitochondrial transmembrane potential, kept cytochrome c from releasing out of the mitochondria, increased superoxide dismutase activity, and decreased malondialdehyde concentration in hippocampus. Moreover, the protective effects of CsA were reinforced by hypothermia. One of the mechanisms that hypothermia protected neuronal mitochondria from damage was inhibiting the opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pore.