Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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To establish the national picture of prehospital anaesthesia in the UK and to reference practice against the Association of prior to Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland safety guideline on prehospital anaesthesia. ⋯ The majority of services are currently complying with the recommendations in the Association of prior to Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland safety guideline. There are still areas of concern, particularly with regard to ongoing training and the high numbers of services that do not use a trained assistant for the process of prehospital anaesthesia.
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether pregabalin can reduce acute herpetic pain and reduce post herpetic neuralgia. 48 papers were found using the reported searches, of which one presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of this best paper are tabulated. ⋯ Moreover, it does not decrease the incidence of post herpetic neuralgia. More research is needed on this topic to clarify this issue [corrected].
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The aim of this study was to test if Procalcitonin PCT value at the time of admission is a predictor of mortality and/or a diagnostic marker of concomitant infection in exertional heatstroke. ⋯ PCT value at the time of admission is an independent predictor of mortality, but maybe not a good indicator of concomitant infection in exertional heatstroke.
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To compare hands-off time (HOT) in simulated advanced life support (ALS) following European Resuscitation Council (ERC) 2005 guidelines and ERC 2000 and to provide quantitative data on workflow. ⋯ The application of ERC guidelines of 2005 markedly reduced the first HOI and mean duration of HOI at the cost of delayed secure airway management and ECG analysis in this MCT model.
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This study attempted to identify any differences between the outcomes of patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) who were directly transported to Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and those who were stabilised initially at other hospitals in south-central Taiwan. ⋯ No differences in outcome were found between patients with isolated severe TBI who were directly transported and those transferred to this hospital's emergency room.