Scand J Trauma Resus
-
Scand J Trauma Resus · Jan 2013
Comparative StudyThe prognostic value of gray-white-matter ratio in cardiac arrest patients treated with hypothermia.
Mild therapeutic hypothermia alters the validity of a number of parameters currently used to predict neurological outcome after cardiac arrest and resuscitation. Thus, additional parameters are needed to increase certainty of early prognosis in these patients. A promising new approach is the determination of the gray-white-matter ratio (GWR) in cranial computed tomography (CCT) obtained early after resuscitation. It is not known how GWR relates to established outcome parameters such as neuron specific enolase (NSE) or somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP). ⋯ Our results suggest a strong association of a low GWR with poor outcome following cardiac arrest. Determination of the GWR increases the sensitivity in a multi-parameter approach for prediction of poor outcome after cardiac arrest.
-
Scand J Trauma Resus · Jan 2013
ReviewInhalation injury: epidemiology, pathology, treatment strategies.
Lung injury resulting from inhalation of smoke or chemical products of combustion continues to be associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Combined with cutaneous burns, inhalation injury increases fluid resuscitation requirements, incidence of pulmonary complications and overall mortality of thermal injury. While many products and techniques have been developed to manage cutaneous thermal trauma, relatively few diagnosis-specific therapeutic options have been identified for patients with inhalation injury. ⋯ Even diagnostic criteria are not consistently applied though bronchoscopy is one diagnostic and therapeutic tool. Medical strategies under investigation for specific treatment of smoke inhalation include beta-agonists, pulmonary blood flow modifiers, anticoagulants and antiinflammatory strategies. Until the value of these and other approaches is confirmed, however, the clinical approach to inhalation injury is supportive.
-
Scand J Trauma Resus · Jan 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialA randomized trial of video self-instruction in cardiopulmonary resuscitation for lay persons.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) improves outcomes after cardiac arrest. Much of the lay public is untrained in CPR skills. We evaluated the effectiveness of a compression-only CPR video self-instruction (VSI) with a personal manikin in the lay public. ⋯ VSI in compressions-only CPR did not achieve greater overall competency but did achieve some CPR skills better than without training.
-
Scand J Trauma Resus · Jan 2013
Comparative StudyUsage of documented pre-hospital observations in secondary care: a questionnaire study and retrospective comparison of records.
The patient handover is important for the safe transition from the pre-hospital setting to secondary care. The loss of critical information about the pre-hospital phase may impact upon the clinical course of the patient. ⋯ Data on pre-hospital abnormal vital signs are frequently not transferred to the hospital admission notes. This information loss may lead to suboptimal care.
-
Scand J Trauma Resus · Jan 2013
Drug-related emergency department visits by elderly patients presenting with non-specific complaints.
Since drug-related emergency department (ED) visits are common among older adults, the objectives of our study were to identify the frequency of drug-related problems (DRPs) among patients presenting to the ED with non-specific complaints (NSC), such as generalized weakness and to evaluate responsible drug classes. ⋯ Elderly patients with non-specific complaints need to be screened systematically for drug-related problems.