European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Hypothermia is a frequent event in trauma patients and appears to be related to post-traumatic organ dysfunction, although in elective surgery hypothermia is known to prevent ischaemia reperfusion injury. Retrospectively we have analysed data from 641 trauma patients treated in our institution between 1988 and 1993. On admission to hospital the core temperature (cT) was > 34 degrees] C in the majority (64%) of patients, followed by 23.6% with a cT < 34 degrees C and 12.4% with a cT < 32 degrees C. ⋯ It also showed that hypothermia is not an independent prognostic factor for post-traumatic mortality. The different effect of hypothermia in trauma compared with elective surgery may be due to a lack of energy-storing phosphates like adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Further current investigations will identify the role of ATP in trauma-related hypothermia.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
A comparison of the prognostic value of neuron-specific enolase serum levels and somatosensory evoked potentials in 13 reanimated patients.
Thirteen patients resuscitated after circulatory arrest due to cardiopulmonary aetiologies were studied with regard to survival and outcome. Exclusion criteria were known central nervous system disorders or death secondary to cerebrovascular accident. The serum level of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), presumably a reliable marker of neuronal death, was measured by enzyme immunoassay in peripheral blood samples over the course of 4 days at 12 h intervals. ⋯ In conclusion, pathological SSEPs and increased NSE levels are of comparable prognostic value. They may well be complementary investigations. The neuron-bound enzyme NSE is a biochemical marker which varies with the extent of neuronal damage, while absence of the cortical potentials may indicate neurophysiological loss of function.
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All prehospital resuscitations performed by emergency physicians in the city of Bochum, Germany, were recorded and evaluated prospectively from 1 August 1989 to 30 September 1990. Initially successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was achieved in 33.8% (alive at admission), and definitive success in 10.4% (discharged alive). Of the patients who presented with cardiac arrest before the arrival of the emergency physician, 28.4% could be resuscitated initially and 7.6% survived definitively. ⋯ This decrease, however did not improve either the initial or the definitive success of CPR. From these results we conclude that further improvement of prehospital resuscitation can only be achieved to a small extent by reducing the call to arrival time of ambulances staffed with emergency physicians. Improvement is more likely to be seen when immediate resuscitation is performed by bystanders present at the scene.
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This study was initiated to identify the incidence, risk factors and outcome predictors of patients admitted to hospital in the Netherlands because of accidental hypothermia. Information about these patients was available for study through the National Health Care Data Bank. Between 1987 and 1990, 612 accidental hypothermic patients were admitted: 185 hypothermic patients also suffered from submersion (HYPSUBS), but this was not the case in the remaining 427 patients (HYPNOTSUBS). ⋯ Almost half of the HYPNOTSUBS non-survivors died after more than 2 days. Because body temperature will have returned to normal by then, this must be the result of late complications. Most HYPSUB non-survivors died during the first 2 days, probably as a direct result of the submersion injury.
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Comparative Study
Clinical status before and during cardiopulmonary resuscitation versus outcome in two consecutive databases. Belgian CPCR Study Group.
The outcome of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is very much determined by uncontrollable precardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) conditions. Two consecutively registered databases containing variables related to pre-arrest, arrest and CPR are similarly analysed to produce and validate a simple clinical algorithm for acute decision making during CPR. ⋯ The simultaneous and persistent absence of ventricular fibrillation, gasping and light-reactive pupils after arrival of the second tier was strongly associated with a poor outcome. Unresponsiveness of these variables to a full and optimal trial of advanced life support can in itself be considered as an index for irreversible myocardial and neurological damage.