Emergencias
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Characteristics of digoxin toxicity attended in Spanish emergency departments according to type of poisoning and administration of digoxin antibodies: the DIGITOX study.
Digoxin toxicity accounts for a small percentage of poisonings attended by emergency departments. This study aimed to describe differences between acute and chronic digoxin toxicity and assess the use of digoxin-specific antibody fragments (digoxin-Fab) as an antidote. ⋯ Chronic toxicity accounts for most digoxin poisoning cases, and most patients are women. Acute toxicity is more serious. Patients who required digoxin-Fab have more severe poisoning. Such patients usually have acute toxicity, and attempted suicide is more often the reason for the emergency.
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Workplace violence of any type is influenced by multiple factors and leads to physiological, psychological, social, and organizational change. Emergency and other urgent care settings have assault rates up to 5-fold higher than other health care settings. This study aimed to analyze the consequences of physical and nonphysical violence on health care and support personnel in hospital emergency departments. ⋯ Emergency departments have incidents of nonphysical workplace violence more often than physical violence. Emergency personnel with high exposure to workplace violence, particularly nonphysical assaults, experience physiological, psychosocial, and organizational changes.
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Observational Study
A possible role for the venous-to-arterial CO2 difference in cardiogenic shock: an exploratory study.
The venous-to-arterial CO2 partial pressure difference (CO2) is a marker of how adequately capillary blood flow is able to remove CO2 from tissues, but evidence regarding its usefulness in patients with cardiogenic shock (CS) is scarce The main objective of this study was to describe the changes in CO2 in patients with cardiogenic shock during the 48 hours after hospital admission. A secondary objective was to analyze the association between CO2 and in-hospital mortality due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cardiogenic shock refractory to treatment. ⋯ This exploratory study suggests that CO2 could be a helpful additional marker to measure when managing cardiogenic shock. CO2 lower than 6 mmHg between 12 and 24 hours after admission may identify patients at low risk of death due to CVD or refractory cardiogenic shock.
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Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent sustained arrhythmia managed in emergency departments, and the already high prevalence of this arrhythmia is increasing in Spain. This serious condition associated with increased mortality and morbidity has a negative impact on patient quality of life and the functioning of the health care system. ⋯ The statement was drafted by a multidisciplinary team of specialists from the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine (SEMES), the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC), and the Spanish Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis (SETH). Strategies for stroke prophylaxis, measures to bring heart rate and heart rhythm under control, and related diagnostic and logistic issues are discussed in detail.