Wilderness & environmental medicine
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Wilderness Environ Med · Dec 2014
Medical student electives in wilderness medicine: curriculum guidelines.
Wilderness medicine has been a part of medical student education for many years and is becoming more popular. To help standardize and improve the student experience, we surveyed current elective directors to gain an understanding of what experts in the field thought were priority elements in a wilderness medicine elective. Although there is a diversity of opinion among leaders in the field, there are multiple topics on which there is concordance on inclusion or exclusion.
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Wilderness Environ Med · Sep 2014
Incidence and characteristics of snakebite envenomations in the New York state between 2000 and 2010.
We sought to evaluate the incidence of reported venomous snakebites in the state of New York between 2000 and 2010. ⋯ Although not rare, venomous snakebites do not occur commonly in New York State, with a mean of just 7 bites per year; fortunately most snakebites reported are from nonvenomous snakes. Yet even nonvenomous bites have the potential to cause moderately severe outcomes. Medical providers in the state should be aware of their management.
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Wilderness Environ Med · Sep 2014
Case ReportsAtraumatic splenic rupture after coagulopathy owing to a snakebite.
Among the many complications that may follow envenomation by some species of venomous snakes, coagulopathy is common and well known. However, hemoperitoneum induced by coagulopathy after a snakebite is rare. Atraumatic spontaneous splenic rupture is also an uncommon and life-threatening condition. Here, we report a case of presumptive envenomation by Gloydius spp. that resulted in atraumatic splenic rupture as a probable manifestation of coagulopathy, which has not been previously reported.
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Wilderness Environ Med · Sep 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialExercise limitation of acetazolamide at altitude (3459 m).
To assess the effect of acetazolamide (Az) on exercise performance during early acclimatization to altitude. ⋯ In this study group, and despite higher resting Spo2, Az may have compromised exercise at 3459 m altitude during early acclimatization, particularly in older subjects.