[Out-of-hospital assessment of elderly patients' preference for ICU care]. / Évaluation préhospitalière du désir d'accès aux soins de réanimation chez les sujets âgés.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the adequacy between elderly patients' preference for ICU care when treated for a life-threatening pathology, and the strategy proposed by the medical team on scene. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, observational study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients older than 80 treated out-of-hospital for a life threatening pathology were included, except in case of language barrier, or when patients were unable to answer and absence of next-of-kin. The results of the questionnaire on quality of life and patients' preference concerning ICU care were compared to the responses provided blindly by the medical team. RESULTS: Fifty-five patients were included. Quality of life as expressed by the patients was 7 (5-10) and by the physician 7 (6-8) (P=0.69). Thirty-six patients (65%) expressed the wish to be resuscitated, while ICU admission would have been proposed for 44 patients (80%) by the doctors (P=0.01). Among the 14 patients reluctant to ICU admission, 11 would have been proposed for ICU admission. In multivariate analysis, age (OR: 1.55 [1.04-2.32], P=0.03) and history of neurological pathology (OR: 11,91 [5.68->100], P=0.04) were associated with such an inadequacy. CONCLUSION: The inadequacy between elderly patients' preferences and doctors' opinion concerning ICU cares is frequent. The present results support a more systematic collection of patients' preferences when treated on scene for a life-threatening pathology.

[Management of severe acute asthma in adults]. / Conduite à tenir devant une crise d'asthme aigu grave de l'adulte.

Any life-threatening episode of asthma requires early pre-hospital specialized medical management by emergency medical crews. Gravity depends on both clinical criteria and a peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) more than 30% below either the level predicted by the reference graph or the patient's reference value. Initial treatment combines continuous nebulizations containing a beta2-agonist and ipratropium bromide, with oxygen administration and intravenous corticosteroid bolus. Recommended as second-line treatment in the absence of adequate response are: intravenous magnesium sulphate and continuous-perfusion beta2-agonists (electric syringe), or, in the case of shock, epinephrine. If mechanical ventilation is required, its settings should aim for low tidal volumes, low frequency, and increased expiratory time.