A rare massive presentation of catamenial hemothorax.

Catamenial hemothorax is a rare manifestation of thoracic endometriosis syndrome. It is commonly seen associated with pelvic endometriosis in nulliparous reproductive-age women. Most cases are minor and self-limiting. We present a case of a 32-year-old woman who presented with prolonged worsening dyspnea and was found to have a massive hemothorax on evaluation.

Acute Kidney Injury in Severe Trauma Patients; a Record-Based Retrospective Study.

INTRODUCTION: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common and devastating clinical issue in the community associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE: We aimed at estimating the frequency and levels of severity of AKI in trauma patients requiring hospital admission using the RIFLE criteria and assess their outcome. METHOD: Our retrospective record based study enrolled data of 80 participants aged 18-59 years who presented to the emergency department of KIMS hospital following an acute traumatic event. Participants with pre-existing renal dysfunction, chronic heart failure and chronic liver disease were excluded. Tests of significance were Chi square and independent sample t test, a p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Participants with AKI had significantly lower age (p=0.02) and lower revised trauma score (RTS) (p=0.01). Significant association of AKI with hypotension (p=0.01) and Glasgow coma scale (GCS) (p=0.008) was observed. No association of AKI with gender was observed (p=0.6). None of the AKI patients required renal replacement therapy and all participants attained normal renal function at discharge. Significantly longer mean duration of hospital stay (14.4 days) was observed among AKI patients (p=0.02). Totally, 6.3 % mortality was observed among both participants with and without AKI. CONCLUSION: Forty percent of acute trauma patients had AKI (in risk and injury category); but none were in failure, loss or end stage renal disease. No association of AKI and mortality was observed. AKI was associated with age, RTS, hypotension and GCS.

Accuracy of Extended Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (e-FAST) Performed by Emergency Medicine Residents in a Level One Tertiary Center of India.

INTRODUCTION: It could be claimed that extended focused assessment with sonography for trauma (e-FAST) is the most important use of ultrasound in every emergency department (ED). It is a rapid, repeatable, non-invasive bedside method that was designed to answer one single question, which is, "whether free fluid is present in the peritoneal, pleural and pericardial cavity or not?" This examination may also be used to evaluate the lungs for pneumothorax. OBJECTIVE: The current comparative study was conducted to assess the accuracy and reproducibility of e-FAST performed by emergency medicine residents (EMRs) and radiology consultants (RCs) in multiple trauma patients. METHOD: This diagnostic accuracy study was conducted prospectively in patients presenting over a period of 12 months from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2013 to the ED of Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Kerala, India. All multiple trauma patients older than 18 years of age presenting within 24 hours of their traumatic event, who underwent both e-FAST and thoracoabdominal computed tomography (CT) scan were included. The e-FAST exams were first performed by the EMRs and then by RCs. The thoracoabdominal CT scan findings were considered as the gold standard. The results were compared between both groups to assess the inter-observer variability. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy were calculated both for EMRs and RCs. RESULTS: In the study period, 150 patients with a mean age of 42.06 ± 18.1 years were evaluated (76.7% male). Only 19 cases (12.7%) had a history of fall from a height, and the others were admitted due to RTA. Thirty-four cases (22.7%) did not require surgery; but the others underwent various interventions. Both EMRs and RCs reported positive findings in 20 cases (13.3%) and negative findings in 130 cases (86.7%). The correlation of e-FAST done by EMRs with that by RCs was 100%. E-FAST exam had a sensitivity of 90.4%, specificity 99.2%, PPV 95.0%, NPV 98.4%, and accuracy 98%, both for EMRs and RCs. CONCLUSION: Based on the findings, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of e-FAST exams performed by EMRs were equal to those performed by RCs. It seems that e-FAST performed by EMRs were almost accurate during the initial trauma resuscitation in the ED of a level one trauma center in India.

Epidemiology of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Utilization in Four Indian Emergency Departments.

Introduction Without a universal Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system in India, data on the epidemiology of patients who utilize EMS are limited. This retrospective chart review aimed to quantify and describe the burden of disease and patient demographics of patients who arrived by EMS to four Indian emergency departments (EDs) in order to inform a national EMS curriculum. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed on patients transported by EMS over a three-month period in 2014 to four private EDs in India. A total of 17,541 patient records were sampled from the four sites over the study period. Of these records, 1,723 arrived by EMS and so were included for further review. RESULTS: A range of 1.4%-19.4% of ED patients utilized EMS to get to the ED. The majority of EMS patients were male (59%-64%) and adult or geriatric (93%-99%). The most common chief complaints and ED diagnoses were neurological, pulmonary, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, trauma, and infectious disease. CONCLUSIONS: Neurological, pulmonary, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, trauma, and infectious disease are the most common problems found in patients transported by EMS in India. Adult and geriatric male patients are the most common EMS utilizers. Emergency Medical Services curricula should emphasize these knowledge areas and skills. Wijesekera O , Reed A , Chastain PS , Biggs S , Clark EG , Kole T , Chakrapani AT , Ashish N , Rajhans P , Breaud AH , Jacquet GA . Epidemiology of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) utilization in four Indian emergency departments. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(6):675-679.