Comparing Diazepam Plus Fentanyl With Midazolam Plus Fentanyl in the Moderate Procedural Sedation of Anterior Shoulder Dislocations: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: The reduction of shoulder dislocation requires adequate procedural sedation and analgesia. The mixture of midazolam and fentanyl is reported in the literature, but long-acting benzodiazepines in conjunction with fentanyl are lacking. STUDY OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to compar e IV diazepam with IV midazolam in moderate procedural sedation (based on the classification of the American Society of Anesthesiologists) for the reduction of shoulder dislocation. METHODS: This was a randomized controlled clinical trial conducted from April 2019 to December 2019 in the emergency department of a university-affiliated hospital in Tehran, Iran. Participants were adult patients (aged 18-65 years) with anterior shoulder dislocation. Group A (n = 42) received diazepam 0.1 mg/kg plus fentanyl 1 µg/kg IV and group B received midazolam 0.1 mg/kg plus fentanyl 1 µg g/kg IV. Main outcomes measured were onset of muscle relaxation, time taken to reduction, total procedure time, number of the reduction attempts, patient recovery time, the occurrence of the adverse effects, amount of the pain reported by the patients using visual analog scale, and patients and physicians overall satisfaction with the procedure using a Likert scale question. RESULTS: Eighty-one patients were included. The mean ± standard deviation time of the onset of the muscle relaxation and time taken to reduction was shorter in the diazepam plus fentanyl group (p = 0.016 and p = 0.001, respectively). Adverse effects and pain relief were not statistically different between the two groups. Patient recovery time and total procedure time was shorter in the midazolam plus fentanyl group (p = 0.008 and p = 0.02, respectively). The overall satisfaction of patients and physicians was higher in the diazepam plus fentanyl group. CONCLUSIONS: As compared with midazolam plus fentanyl, diazepam plus fentanyl was superior in terms of the onset of the muscle relaxation, patient and physician satisfaction, and time taken to reduction.

Developing a Checklist for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Quality Control in Emergency Department; a Qualitative Study.

INTRODUCTION: Monitoring the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) could help in achieving favorable outcomes, decreasing mortality, and preventing post-CPR neurologic sequels. This study aimed to generate a user-friendly checklist for CPR quality control in emergency department (ED). METHOD: A qualitative study was performed between January and December 2018. In the first step, two emergency medicine specialists searched currently available databases and extracted the factors related to CPR quality. Afterward, two sessions of focus group discussions were held. The participants included four emergency medicine specialists, two ED managers, one anesthesiologist, and one cardiologist. Subsequently, 20 medical specialists, consisting of 10 emergency medicine specialists, six anesthesiologists, and four cardiologists, were invited to a Delphi panel in order to rate the extracted items from the prior group discussions. RESULTS: During the two rounds of focus group discussions, 38 items related to the quality of CPR were identified. A Delphi panel evaluated the items; 31 items with at least 75% agreement were selected. These 31 items were included in the final checklist and after a pilot study and adjustment of its content they were sorted in 10 categories as follows: 1. chest compression, 2. airway, 3. bag-mask ventilation, 4. cardiac monitoring, 5. defibrillation, 6. intravenous (IV) drug delivery, 7. Medications, 8. Advanced airway, 9. CPR sequence, and 10. Reversible causes. CONCLUSION: Our study provides a checklist for monitoring the quality of CPR in ED, but it is still necessary to include other factors related to the ED environment on this checklist.

Causes of Prolonged Emergency Department Stay; a Cross-sectional Action Research.

INTRODUCTION: Based on the existing standards, patients presenting to emergency department (ED) should receive a decision in a maximum of 6 hours after admission to ED and leave ED in this time. Unfortunately, most of the time, especially in general and referral hospitals, we witness patients staying in the ED for hours or even days after a decision has been made. OBJECTIVE: the present study was performed with the aim of evaluating the causes of patients' prolonged length of stay in ED of one of the major hospitals in Tehran, Iran. METHOD: The present cross-sectional action research was carried out in the ED of Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran, in November and December 2016. The studied population consisted of patients who stayed in ED for more than 12 hours. In a panel consist of specialists, semi-structured and open questions were asked from the participants. All the interviews were recorded and converted to text. Effective factors of staying more than 12 hours in ED mentioned by the interviewees were extracted. A checklist of evaluating the causes of more than 12 hours stay in ED was prepared. In the next stage, by daily visit to the ED of the studied hospital, profile of the patients who had stayed in the ED for more than 12 hours was evaluated and the variables determined in the checklist were assessed. RESULTS: In the present study, 407 patients with the mean age of 54.07±20.18 years (minimum 1 and maximum 113 years) were studied, 270 (65.7%) of which were male. Respectively, 26 (6.4%) were admitted in triage level 1, 203 (49.9%) in triage level 2, 168 (41.3%) in triage level 3, 9 (2.2%) in triage level 4 and 1 (0.2%) in triage level 5. Based on these findings, "services not wanting to transfer patients with decisions to the service" was the most common factor. CONCLUSION: In the present study, specialized services not tending to dislocate the patients that have been decided upon to their respective department, a considerable number of complicated patients and patients with advanced underlying illnesses among those presenting to ED, and shortage of beds in specialized departments and ICU, were the most common causes affecting more than 12 hours stay of patients in the studied ED.

Midazolam Plus Haloperidol as Adjuvant Analgesics to Morphine in Opium Dependent Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: Tolerance to opioids among opium-dependent patients creates obstacles for proper pain management of these patients in the emergency department (ED). The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of intramuscular (IM) haloperidol plus midazolam on morphine analgesia among opium-dependent patients. METHODS: Opium-dependent adults who were admitted to the ED for new-onset severe pain in the limbs or abdomen (within 24 hours of admission and a pain score of over six, using a numerical rating scale [NRS]) were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned into two groups. Group A received morphine 0.05 mg/kg intravenously (IV) and a mixture of midazolam 2.5 mg and haloperidol 2.5 mg (diluted in 5 cc of distilled water, IM); group B received morphine 0.05 mg/kg IV and distilled water 5 cc, IM. Measured outcomes were related to: 1) pain intensity; 2) total doses of morphine; 3) changes in hemodynamic status and level of consciousness of patients. NRS scores (zero to 10) before and one, three and six hours following intervention, as well as total doses of morphine, were recorded. RESULTS: We recruited 68 males (78.16%) and 19 females (21.83%). The mean age was 38.28±6.59 years. The pain score in group A declined more rapidly over six hours than that in group B. Moreover, as compared to group B, the amount of morphine use decreased significantly in group A. CONCLUSION: Based on the present data, adding haloperidol plus midazolam to morphine for pain management improved pain scores and lowered morphine consumption among opium-dependent patients.

Measurement of Central Venous Pressure Using Ultrasound in Emergency Department.

BACKGROUND: In order to assessment of intravascular fluid measurement of central venous pressure (CVP) is used via central venous catheterization (CVC). This procedure is highly invasive and may cause serious complications such as pneumothorax, infection, hematoma and etc. It is so valuable procedure if we can uses a less invasive or noninvasive procedure to assess patients intravascular fluid in critical positions. OBJECTIVES: In this study, the ultrasound was used to measure the central venous pressure (CVP). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this study, patients with Central venous catheterization were selected using simple random sampling. The largest diameter of longitudinal, transverse views and the cross-section of inferior vena cava (IVC) and internal jugular vein (IJV) were measured using the ultrasound in the bedside of the patients. Central venous pressure was measured using routine methods. Correlations between variables were analyzed using SPSS and linear regression. RESULTS: Twenty patients with the mean age of 60.3 were studied. The main reason for cardiac catheterization was shock. There are no relationship between anterior posterior diameter of inferior vena cava and CVP of patients (P = 0.257). The longest diameter of IVC in ultrasonographic transverse view had significant association with CVP of patients (P = 0.045) but in patients with BMI > 25 it was not significant. Cross section of internal jugular vein had significant association with CVP of patients (P = 0.003). Longitudinal diameter of internal jugular vein had no significant association with CVP of patients (P = 0.052), but transverse diameter of internal jugular generally had significant association with CVP of patients (P = 0.003). Cross section of internal jugular had significant association with CVP (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Noninvasive assessment of the patient hydration condition using the ultrasound is a simple and practicable measure in emergency. With regard to the considerations, it is possible to estimate CVP via diameter measurement and cross-section of the central veins.

Medical emergency management among Iranian dentists.

AIMS: More than 18,000 patients need medical emergencies management in dental offices in Iran annually. The present study investigates medical emergencies management among Iranian dentists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From the list of the cell phone numbers of the dentists practicing in the city of Tehran, 210 dentists were selected randomly. A self-administered questionnaire was used as the data collection instrument. The questionnaire requested information on personal and professional characteristics of the dentists, as well as their knowledge and self-reported practice in the field of medical emergency management, and availability of required drugs and equipments to manage medical emergencies in their offices. RESULTS: Totally, 177 dentists (84%) completed the questionnaire. Less than 60% of the participants were knowledgeable about characteristics of hypoglycemic patient, chest pain with cardiac origin, and true cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) practice. Regarding practice, less than one quarter of the respondents acquired acceptable scores. In regression models, higher practice scores were significantly associated with higher knowledge scores (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The results call for a need to further education on the subject for dentists. Continuing education and changing dental curriculum in the various forms seems to be useful in enhancement of the self-reported knowledge and practice of dentists. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: To successful control of medical emergencies in the dental office, dentists must be prepared to recognize and manage a variety of such conditions. In addition to dentist's knowledge and skill, availability of necessary equipments and trained staff is also of critical importance.

The validity of cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills in the emergency department using video-assisted surveillance: an Iranian experience.

The present study was designed to evaluate the quality of CPR procedures performed in Tehran's Rasool-e-Akram Hospital-- the first Emergency Medicine academic center in Iran-using a videotaped real-life (actual) CPR technique, with the aim of pointing out the defects and shortcomings in this regard. The performance of the CPR team in the emergency resuscitation room of Rasool-e-Akram Hospital was evaluated through videotaping. In an expert panel in the educational council of the emergency medicine group scored each item, which could be evaluated through videotaping, based on the existing guidelines. Fifty CPRs were videotaped between May to July 2008. From among the 33 CPRs which were recorded from the very first moment, 25 of them were started which the correct procedure, chest compression and ventilation, whereas procedures such as checking for pulse, getting an IV-line or intubation were performed as the first action in the remaining cases. While many believe CPR is performed properly in our center, the present study revealed that the performance is still distant from the desired ideal.

Evaluating the impact of emergency medicine education on medical interns' knowledge scores.

BACKGROUND: Emergency medicine is a young specialty in Iran. Since 2005, a 4-week rotation has been allocated to emergency medicine instruction for all medical interns during their medical internship in Tehran University of Medical Sciences. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we have evaluated the impact of emergency medicine rotation on medical interns' knowledge in the field of emergency medicine. METHODS: From October 2005 to May 2006, 10 medical interns of emergency medicine rotation were randomly enrolled in this study each month. They were administered a pretest assessing their emergency medicine knowledge. Then, they attended a theoretical and practical course. Finally, they were reassessed by a post-test similar to the pretest. RESULTS: There were 98 medical interns, including 53 male (54.08%) and 45 female (45.91%) participants. The mean of participants' age was 25.50 (±1.47) years. Their internship duration spanned from 1 to 18 months, with a mean of 5.40 (±4.71) months. The difference between participants' pretest and post-test scores was statistically significant (P<0.0001). There was no significant difference between pretest and post-test scores within male (P=0.856) and female (P=0.973) participants. There was a significant inverse correlation between participants' age and their pretest scores (P=0.017). But there was no significant correlation between participants' age and the difference between pretest and post-test scores (P=0.307). CONCLUSION: It seems that emergency medicine rotation improves the medical interns' knowledge in the field of emergency medicine; and their sex, passed medical blocks and the duration of internship do not affect this knowledge.