Scand J Trauma Resus
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Apr 2021
Severe traumatic brain injury and hypotension is a frequent and lethal combination in multiple trauma patients in mountain areas - an analysis of the prospective international Alpine Trauma Registry.
Hypotension is associated with worse outcome in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and maintaining a systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥110 mmHg is recommended. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of TBI in patients suffering multiple trauma in mountain areas; to describe associated factors, treatment and outcome compared to non-hypotensive patients with TBI and patients without TBI; and to evaluate pre-hospital variables to predict admission hypotension. ⋯ Multiple trauma in the mountains goes along with severe TBI in almost 50%. One third of patients with TBI is hypotensive on hospital arrival and this is associated with a worse outcome. No single variable or set of variables easily obtainable at scene was able to predict admission hypotension in TBI patients.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Apr 2021
Multicenter Study Pragmatic Clinical TrialPoint-of-care ultrasound of the heart and lungs in patients with respiratory failure: a pragmatic randomized controlled multicenter trial.
Point-of-care ultrasound is a focus oriented tool for differentiating among cardiopulmonary diseases. Its value in the hands of emergency physicians, with various ultrasound experience, remains uncertain. We tested the hypothesis that, in emergency department patients with signs of respiratory failure, a point-of-care cardiopulmonary ultrasound along with standard clinical examination, performed by emergency physicians with various ultrasound experience would increase the proportion of patients with presumptive diagnoses in agreement with final diagnoses at four hours after admission compared to standard clinical examination alone. ⋯ Focused cardiopulmonary ultrasound added to standard clinical examination in patients with signs of respiratory failure had no impact on the diagnostic accuracy, but significantly increased the proportion of appropriate treatment prescribed and the proportion of patients who spent less than 1 day in hospital.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Apr 2021
Multicenter StudyWhich symptoms pose the highest risk in patients calling for an ambulance? A population-based cohort study from Denmark.
Emergency medical service patients are a vulnerable population and the risk of mortality is considerable. In Denmark, healthcare professionals receive 112-emergency calls and assess the main reason for calling. The main aim was to investigate which of these reasons, i.e. which symptoms or mechanism of injury, contributed to short-term risk of death. Secondary aim was to study 1-30 day-mortality for each symptom/ injury. ⋯ In terms of risk of death on the same day and the day after the 112-call, "unconscious adult/possible cardiac arrest" was the most deadly symptom, about eight times more deadly than "breathing difficulties", 12 times more deadly than "unclear problem", 28 times more deadly than "possible stroke", and 52 times more deadly than "chest pain". "Breathing difficulties" and "unclear problem" as presented when calling 112 are among the top three contributing to short term deaths when calling 112, exceeding both stroke symptoms and chest pain.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Apr 2021
Case ReportsOut-of-hospital resuscitation of a 3 month old boy presenting with recurrent ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest: a case report.
A 3 month old boy, with no known health conditions, suffered a sudden collapse at home. On first EMS arrival, ventricular fibrillation (VF) cardiac arrest was identified and resuscitation following UK national guidelines was initiated. He remained in cardiac arrest for over 25 min, during which he received 10 defibrillation shocks, each effective, but with VF reoccurring within a few seconds of each of the first 9. ⋯ The patient was subsequently discharged home and is making an excellent recovery. The arrest was later determined to have been caused by a primary arrhythmia as a result of a previously unidentified non-obstructive variant hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We present data downloaded from the defibrillator used during the resuscitation that illustrates clearly the recurrent nature of his fibrillation.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Apr 2021
Normalization of blood clotting characteristics using prothrombin complex concentrate, fibrinogen and FXIII in an albumin based fluid: experimental studies in thromboelastometry.
Colloid fluids supplemented with adequate combinations of coagulation factor concentrates with the capability to restore coagulation could be a desirable future treatment component in massive transfusion. ⋯ Combinations of coagulation factor concentrates suspended in albumin solutions can restore thromboelastometry parameters in the absence of plasma. This kind of artificial colloid fluids with coagulation-restoring characteristics might offer new treatment alternatives for massive transfusion.