Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Therapies exist for acute organophosphate (OP) exposure but mortality rates remain high (10% to 20%). Currently, treatment focuses on reversing the resultant cholinergic excess effects through the use of atropine. Intralipid fat emulsion (IFE) has been used to treat lipophilic drug ingestions and theoretically would be beneficial for some OP agents. ⋯ All animals exposed to 4 × LD(50) of oral parathion demonstrate apnea and respiratory arrest. IFE given immediately after oral parathion does not prolong time to apnea. IFE given 20 minutes after oral exposure to parathion decreases the acute effects of the OP and prolongs the time to apnea.
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Ultrasound (US) is a sensitive diagnostic tool for detecting pneumothorax (PTX), but methods are needed to optimally teach this technique outside of direct patient care. In training and research settings, porcine PTX models are sometimes used, but the description of the PTX topography in these models is lacking. The study purpose was to define the distribution of air using the reference imaging standard computed tomography (CT), to see if pleural insufflation of air into a live anaesthetized pig truly imitates a PTX in an injured patient. ⋯ The authors found the distribution of the intrathoracic air to be similar between a porcine model and that to be expected in human trauma patients, all having predominantly anterior PTX topographies. In a training facility, the model is easy to set up and can be scanned by the participants multiple times. To acquire the necessary skills to perform thoracic US examinations for PTX, the porcine models could be useful.