Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Progressive organ dysfunction is the leading cause of sepsis-associated mortality; however, its incidence and management are incompletely understood. Sepsis patients with moderately impaired perfusion (serum lactate 2.0 to 3.9 mmol/L) who are not in hemodynamic shock ("preshock" sepsis patients) may be at increased risk for progressive organ dysfunction and increased mortality. The objectives of this study were to: 1) quantify the occurrence of progressive organ dysfunction among preshock sepsis patients, 2) examine if there were baseline differences in demographic and physiologic parameters between preshock sepsis patients who experienced progressive organ dysfunction and those who did not, and 3) examine if intravenous (IV) fluid administered in the emergency department (ED) differed between these two groups of patients. ⋯ Over one-quarter of preshock sepsis patients developed progressive organ dysfunction with associated increased resource use. Demographic and physiologic parameters were unable to differentiate patients with progressive organ dysfunction, while the initial SOFA score was increased in patients meeting the outcome. Overall, these patients received relatively little IV fluid therapy during their ED stays. Further research to determine if more aggressive therapy can prevent progressive organ dysfunction in this population is warranted.
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Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) is a lytic medication widely used in the emergency department to treat acute thrombotic disorders such as ischemic stroke and myocardial infarction. It is known in the clinical use of this drug that it can be less effective in approximately 25% of individuals receiving such treatment. However, there are no data on the variation of lytic efficacy of rt-PA in decreasing individuals' clot size over time. In this study, in vitro lytic efficacy was determined by measuring the decrease in clot diameter after 30 minutes of drug exposure. The authors sought to explore whether there are individuals who do not respond to this lytic therapy and to estimate the rate of nonresponse. ⋯ Overall, rt-PA does not produce clot lysis in vitro in clots from a substantial minority of the population, likely due to individual variations in clot composition and structure.
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Emergency department (ED) computed tomography (CT) use has increased significantly during the past decade. It has been suggested that adherence to clinical decision support (CDS) may result in a safe decrease in CT ordering. In this study, the authors quantified the percentage agreement between routine and CDS-recommended care and the anticipated consequence of strict adherence to CDS on CT use in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). ⋯ There is a 60% to 80% agreement between routine and CDS-recommended head CT use. Of the three CDS systems examined, the only one that may result in a reduction in head CT use if strictly followed was the Canadian head CT CDS. Further studies are needed to examine reasons for the less than optimal agreement between routine care and care recommended by the Canadian head CT CDS.
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Patients sustaining rattlesnake envenomation often develop thrombocytopenia, the etiology of which is not clear. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that venom from several species, including the Mojave rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus), can inhibit platelet aggregation. In humans, administration of crotaline Fab antivenom has been shown to result in transient improvement of platelet levels; however, it is not known whether platelet aggregation also improves after antivenom administration. ⋯ Crotaline Fab antivenom improved platelet aggregation in an in vitro model of platelet dysfunction induced by venom from C. scutulatus. It is unclear at this time whether this improvement in platelet dysfunction translates into improved clinical outcomes in envenomated patients.
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Editorial Comment
Syncope risk stratification in the ED: directions for future research.