J Emerg Med
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Thyroid storm, an endocrine emergency, remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. It is recognized to develop as a result of several factors, including infection, surgery, acute illness, and rarely, trauma. Recognition of thyroid storm in a trauma patient is difficult because the emergency physician usually focuses on managing more obvious injuries. ⋯ We present a case of trauma-related thyroid storm to illustrate the diagnostic and therapeutic approach with a summary of the previous literature. Emergency physicians should be aware of the clinical presentation and risk factors of patients with trauma-related thyroid storm to reduce the rate of misdiagnosis and prevent catastrophic outcomes.
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Current international guidelines for the treatment of patients with severe sepsis and septic shock recommend that patients receive targeted care to various physiologic endpoints, thereby optimizing tissue perfusion and oxygenation. These recommendations are primarily derived from a protocol published >15 years ago, which was viewed by many as complex and was therefore not widely adopted. Instead, many emergency physicians focused on the administration of early antibiotics, source control, aggressive fluid resuscitation, vasoactive medications as needed to maintain mean arterial blood pressure, and careful monitoring of these patients. The primary goal of this literature search was to determine if there is a mortality benefit to the early goal-directed protocol recommended by current international sepsis guidelines compared to current usual care. ⋯ There is no difference in mortality between current usual care and the goal-directed approach recommended by current international guidelines for patients with severe sepsis and septic shock.
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Topical cocaine is sometimes used for the treatment of epistaxis, as it has both potent anesthetic and vasoconstrictive properties. Cocaine has unpredictable cardiovascular effects, such as sudden hypertension, tachycardia, coronary arterial vasoconstriction, and dysrhythmia. ⋯ We report a case of acute iatrogenic cardiovascular toxicity from the use of topical cocaine in a 56-year-old man presenting to the Emergency Department with profound epistaxis. To prepare for cauterization and nasal packing, the patient received 4% topical cocaine-soaked nasal pledgets. He became hypertensive, tachypneic, tachycardic, and dysphoric immediately after administration. To directly counter these adverse hyperadrenergic effects, the patient was given 10 mg intravenous labetalol, a mixed β- and α-blocker. This instantly normalized his vital signs and adverse subjective effects. His epistaxis was successfully treated, and he was discharged 1 h later. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: We believe that emergency physicians should be aware of the unpredictable acute cardiovascular toxicity of topical cocaine. Labetalol represents an effective first-line treatment, which, unlike benzodiazepines, directly counters the pharmacologic effects of cocaine and has no respiratory or sedative side effects. Labetalol, with its mixed β/α-blocking properties, also mitigates the potential for "unopposed α-stimulation."