Postgraduate medicine
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Acute obstruction of the upper airway can be caused by several events. With some, such as anaphylaxis and trauma, obstruction may not be immediate and the physician may be able to take steps to avert it. ⋯ The most serious complication of this procedure is chronic subglottic stenosis. Vocal cord paralysis may result from tumor or neck trauma but especially from neck or mediastinal surgery, and the vocal cords should always be examined before and after such surgery.
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Postgraduate medicine · Dec 1982
Agitation in the elderly: an often-treatable manifestation of acute brain syndrome.
Agitation in elderly patients is often caused by acute cerebral failure, more commonly called acute brain syndrome, delirium, or acute confusional state. Defects in cognition, sleep-waking cycles, and psychomotor behavior result. Careful history taking, physical examination, and laboratory testing may reveal a specific, reversible organic factor related to the acute brain syndrome. This article outlines the clues to recognizing agitation due to a cerebral failure and gives guidelines for workup and management.