Impact of the empirical therapy timing on the clinical progress of septic shock patients.

AIM: To evaluate the effect of timing of antimicrobial therapy on clinical progress of patients with septic shock. MATERIALS AND METHOD: We included 204 adult patients diagnosed with septic shock according to Sepsis-3 criteria between March 2016 and April 2021. One-month survival was evaluated using univariate and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Antibiotic treatment was initiated within 1 h of the vasopressors in 26.4 % of patients. One-month mortality did not differ significantly between patients with and without empirical therapy coverage on etiological agents. Univariate factors that significantly affected one-month survival were starting antibiotics at the first hour, the unit where the case was diagnosed with septic shock, SOFA scores, qSOFA scores, and lactate level. In multivariate analysis, diagnosis of septic shock in the Emergency Service, SOFA score ≥11, qSOFA score of three and lactate level ≥4 were significantly associated with one-month mortality. CONCLUSION: Training programs should be designed to increase the awareness of septic shock diagnosis and treatment in the Emergency Service and other hospital units. Additionally, electronic patient files should have warning systems for earlier diagnosis and consultation.

Evaluation of the Retrospective LACE Index in Predicting the Risk of Readmission in Patients with Hereditary Angioedema in an Emergency Department.

This study aimed to calculate the LACE index in patients who admitted to the emergency department (ED) with hereditary angioedema (HA) diagnosed and to predict recurrent admissions of patients. In this single-center study, patients aged 18 or higher who were admitted to the ED diagnosed with HA were included over a 12-year period. 35 patients diagnosed with code E88.0 were evaluated according to electronic file records. The number of admissions to the ED in the last 6 months was 2. The LACE index was 4, and risk was 71.4%. The patients admitted to the hospital in the last 30 days had a higher rate of admission to the hospital in the last 6 months (p < 0.001). The LACE index at admission predicted 30 days admission with (AUC = 0.75, 95% CI (0.56-0.91)) acceptable discrimination. The LACE index and the number of admissions in the last 6 months included in the evaluation can be considered predictive in recurrent ED admissions of HA patients. However, the distribution of LACE-risk groups is no priority. Therefore, the low-, medium-, or high-risk level of LACE index values should be not taken into consideration in readmission of such patients.

Emergency Medicine Association of Turkey Disaster Committee Summary of Field Observations of February 6th Kahramanmaras Earthquakes.

An earthquake measuring 7.7 magnitude on the Richter scale occurred at 04:17am on February 6, 2023 in the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province Turkey. In the hours following the 7.7 magnitude event in Kahramanmaras, a second 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the region and a third 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Gaziantep, causing extensive damage and death. A total of ten provinces directly experienced the earthquake, including Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Gaziantep, Osmaniye, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa, Adiyaman, and Kilis. The official figures indicate 31,643 people were killed, 80,278 were injured, and 6,444 buildings were destroyed within seven days of the earthquakes (as of 12:00pm/noon on Monday, February 13th). The area affected by the earthquake has been officially declared to be 500km in diameter. This report primarily relies on observations made by pioneer Emergency Physicians (EPs) who went to the disaster areas shortly after the first earthquake (in the early stages of the disaster). According to their observations: (1) Due to winter conditions, there were transportation problems and a shortage of personnel reaching disaster areas on the first day after the disaster; (2) On the second day of the disaster, health equipment was in short supply; (3) As of the third day, health workers were unprepared in terms of knowledge and experience for the disaster; and (4) The subsequent deployment of health personnel to the disaster area was uncoordinated and unplanned on the following days, which resulted in the health personnel working there not being able to meet even their basic needs (such as food, heating, and shelter). During the first week, coordination was most frequently reported as the most significant problem.

Emergency department management after the 2020 Aegean Sea - Izmir earthquake.

BACKGROUND: This article aims to provide an up-to-date resource on disaster management by reporting about the destructive fea-tures of the earthquake that occurred on October 30, 2020, and about the hospital and emergency service organization during a pandemic. METHODS: This study was carried out with a multicentered, cross-sectional retrospective design on the victims of the 2020 Aegean Sea - Izmir earthquake. Local ethics committee approval was obtained. The data obtained by obtaining permission from two hospitals and ambulance services (transport data) located in the region where earthquake-related destruction was most prominent were evalu-ated. Patient data including demographic data, time of arrival to the emergency department, duration of stay under the debris, triage codes (green: not urgent, slightly injured; yellow: may be delayed, injured; red: critically injured; and black: dead), type of injuries, dura-tion of stay in the emergency department, crush syndrome, rhabdomyolysis, need for invasive procedures (e.g., surgery and dialysis), intensive care admission, hospital admission, and discharge were evaluated. RESULTS: In total, 313 patients (60.4% females) were included in the study according to the inclusion criteria. The mean age of the participants was 38.0±21.0 years, with the youngest being a 6-month-old baby and the oldest a 91-year-old individual. Approximately 41.5% of the earthquake victims presented to the emergency department within the first 3 h of the earthquake, and patients with yellow triage code were the most common in the 1st h. Further, 35.2% of the patients who were rescued from under the debris were discharged alive. Four patients were discharged alive after being rescued from under the debris 24 h following the earthquake, of whom three were rescued after >48 h (longest duration, 91 h). Further, 32 (15.9%) patients who survived upon presentation to the emergency department had rhabdomyolysis, 4 (1.9%) underwent hemodialysis in the emergency department due to acute renal failure, and 8 (3.8%) underwent other emergency operations such as fasciotomy and amputation. In total, 122 patients died and 191 patients were discharged from the hospitals. Furthermore, 139 patients were discharged from the emergency department, 15 were admitted to the intensive care unit, 41 were hospitalized in the relevant clinics, and 112 were directly transferred to the morgue following preliminary evaluation. CONCLUSION: Emergency services should be ready in terms of accurate registration, correct data entry, correct triage assignment, sufficient resources, adequate team, sufficient equipment, and adequate treatment areas for disasters such as earthquakes. Further, ade-quate disaster trainings should be provided, feasible disaster relief plans should be prepared, and regular exercises should be conducted.

Comparison of Standard Technique, Ultrasonography, and Near-Infrared Light in Difficult Peripheral Vascular Access: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVES: Successful placement of a peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) on the first attempt is an important outcome for difficult vascular access (DVA) patients. This study compared standard technique, ultrasonography (USG), and near-infrared light (NIR) in terms of success in the first attempt in patients with DVA. METHODS: This was a prospective, randomized controlled study. The study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital. Emergency department patients who describe DVA history, have no visible or palpable veins, and were assessed by the nurse to have a difficult PIVC were included to study. The PIVC procedure was performed on patients by standard, USG, or NIR device techniques. For all approaches, the success of the first attempt was the primary aim. Total procedure time, the total number of attempts, and the need for rescue intervention were secondary aims. RESULTS: This study evaluated 270 patients. The first attempt success rates for USG, standard, and NIR methods were 78.9%, 62.2%, and 58.9%, respectively. The rate of first attempt success was higher in patients who underwent USG (USG versus standard, P = .014; USG versus NIR, P = .004; standard versus NIR, P = .648). The total median (IQR) procedure time for USG, standard, and NIR methods was 107 (69-228), 72 (47-134), and 82 (61-163) seconds, respectively. The total procedure time was longer in patients undergoing USG (standard versus USG, P <.001; NIR versus USG, P = .035; standard versus NIR, P = .055). The total median (IQR) number of attempts of USG, standard, and NIR methods were 1 (1-1), 1 (1-2), and 1 (1-2), respectively. A difference was found among the groups regarding the total number of attempts (USG versus NIR, P = .015; USG versus standard P = .108; standard versus NIR, P = .307). No difference was found among groups in terms of the need for rescue methods. CONCLUSION: It was found that USG increases the success of the first attempt compared with the standard method and NIR in patients with DVA.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Early Systolic Notching in Pulmonary Embolism.

OBJECTIVE: Recently, a cardiac sonography finding, early systolic notching (ESN), was reported with high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) in a limited population. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of ESN finding for PE in emergency department (ED) patients. METHOD: This prospective multicenter study was conducted in 4 academic EDs. All patients who underwent computed tomography angiography for suspected PE were included in the study. After inclusion, cardiac ultrasound including the right ventricular outflow tract Doppler signal was performed. The diagnostic tests of ESN finding were used for PE and its subgroups. RESULTS: In the study, 183 of 201 patients met the study criteria. Of all patients, 52.5% had PE (n = 96), and 19.7% (n = 36) had ESN finding. In all ED patients, the sensitivity of ESN for PE was 34% (95% CI 25-45), and the specificity was 97% (95% CI 90-99). In the subgroup analysis, the sensitivity of ESN for PE with high or intermediate-high risk was 69% (95% CI 49-85), and the specificity was 90% (95% CI 84-94). Inter-rater reliability for ESN finding between the cardiologist and emergency physician was strong with a kappa statistic of 0.87. CONCLUSION: The pulmonary Doppler flow of ESN was moderate to high specific but low sensitive for PE in all ED patients. In the subgroup analysis, this finding was moderate specific and low sensitive.

The diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography in determining the reduction success of distal radius fractures.

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of bedside ultrasound (US) for determining the success of reduction of displaced distal radius fractures. In addition, we determined the ability of US to diagnose causes of unsuccessful reduction. METHODS: In a prospective, double-blind fashion, patients over 18 of age whose acute distal radius fracture was to be reduced were approached for inclusion. The closed reductions were performed by orthopedics residents. Post-reduction, the fracture was checked by an Emergency Medicine (EM) resident by US. Ultrasound images were evaluated by an EM attending physician blinded to X-ray findings and post-reduction X-ray images were evaluated by an orthopedic surgeon blinded to the US findings. RESULTS: Sixty patients agreed to participate in the study. Of these, reduction was deemed successful by X-ray in 40 (66.7%). Of these 40, 39 (97.5%) were found to be successful reductions by US. In the 20 of 60 (33.3%) patients with unsuccessful reduction by X-ray, 19 (95%) were considered unsuccessful reductions by US. In evaluating the success of distal radius fracture reduction, compared to X-rays, US was 97.5% (95% CI 86.8 to 99.9) sensitive and 95% (95% CI 75.1 to 99.9) specific; its positive predictive value was 97.5% (95% CI 85.2 to 99.6) and negative predictive value 95% (95% CI 73.2 to 99.2). CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasonography is highly sensitive and specific in determining the success of distal radius fracture reduction.

Clinical and video head impulse test in the diagnosis of posterior circulation stroke presenting as acute vestibular syndrome in the emergency department.

INTRODUCTION: Head impulse test (HIT) is the critical bedside examination which differentiates vestibular neuritis (VN) from posterior circulation stroke (PCS) in acute vestibular syndrome (AVS). Video-oculography based HIT (vHIT) may have aadditional strength in making the differentiation. METHODS: Patients admitted to the emergency department of a tertiary-care medical center with AVS were studied. An emergency specialist and a neurologist performed HIT. vHIT was conducted by an neuro-otology research fellow. RESULTS: Forty patients 26 male, 14 female with a mean age of 49 years were included in the analyses. Final diagnoses were VN in 24 and PCS in 16 patients.In the VN group, clinical HIT was assessed as abnormal in 19(80%) cases by the emergency specialist and in 20(83%) by the neurologist. In all PCS patients, HIT was recorded as normal both by the emergency specialist and the neurologist (100%).On vHIT, patients with VN had significantly low gain values for both the ipsilesional and contralesional sides when compared with the healthy controls, with significantly lower figures for the ipsilesional side (p < 0.001). All patients in this group had normal DWI-MRI.PCS patients had bilaterally low gain (p < 0.05) on vHIT. However, gain asymmetry was not significant. Subgroup analyses according to presence of brainstem involvement revealed bilateral low gain (p < 0.05) in patients with brainstem infarction (anterior inferior cerebellar artery-posterior inferior cerebellar artery stroke, AICA-PICA stroke) whereas patients with pure cerebellar infarction (posterior inferior cerebellar artery-superior cerebellar artery stroke, PICA-SCA stroke) had gain values similar to healthy controls.With a gain cut-off ≤0.75 and gain asymmetry cut-off ≥17%, as determined by ROC analysis, 100% of PCS patients and 80% of VN patients were correctly diagnosed. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical HIT, either performed by an emergency specialist or neurologist is equivalent to vHIT gain and gain asymmetry analysis as conducted by neuro-otologist in the diagnosis of PCS, albeit mislabeling about 20% of VN patients. vHIT does not appear to yield additional diagnostic information. These findings indicate the strength of clinical HIT. Pure gain-based vHIT analysis seems limited and needs to be incorporated with saccade analysis.

Treatment of Amlodipine Intoxication with Intravenous Lipid Emulsion Therapy: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

We report the case of a 25-year-old female presenting to the emergency department after committing suicide by ingesting 100 mg amlodipine. The patient was initially treated with intravenous fluids, calcium gluconate, catecholamines and glucagone without effect. The clinical condition of the patient improved quickly and dramatically on the 20th minute of intravenous lipid emulsion (ILE) therapy. Different treatment methods have been developed for calcium channel blocker intoxication over the last years. Among these, lipid emulsion therapy has risen over the last decade as a salvation in cases which do not respond to other treatments. However, given the paucity of data, there are conflicting recommendations about the indications, dose and timing of ILE in the literature. In the light of this case report, we review the literature and discuss whether ILE therapy can find itself a place among first-line therapy recommendations.

Evaluation of patients diagnosed with acute blunt aortic injury and their bedside plain chest radiography in the emergency department: A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of our study was to retrospectively evaluate traumatic aortic transection patients and their bedside plain chest radiographs for signs of aortic injury. METHODS: Emergency department (ED) patients from a 5-year period with traumatic aortic transection who were over 18 years of age were included in the study. Demographic characteristics, mechanism of trauma, Revised Trauma Score, Glasgow Coma Score, vital signs, physical exam findings, laboratory parameters, length of stay in the ED, and patient outcomes were documented. Bedside plain chest radiograph images were interpreted by 2 emergency medicine specialists and 1 radiologist. RESULTS: Thirty patients, mean age 45.87±16.14 years (70% male), were enrolled. Most common trauma mechanism was motor vehicle accident (53.3%). Agreement rates between emergency medicine specialists and radiologist were found to be "excellent" and "substantial" in identifying mediastinal widening and multiple left sided rib fractures; and "fair" in identifying widened paraspinal line, and transthoracic vertebral fractures. CONCLUSION: Though not completely reliable, bedside plain chest radiographs and physical examination findings may be useful in detecting aortic injury during primary survey when the patient is unstable and cannot be sent for chest computerized tomography. Appropriate further imaging studies should be carried out as appropriate based on patient's hemodynamic status.

Effects of Silk Sericin on Incision Wound Healing in a Dorsal Skin Flap Wound Healing Rat Model.

BACKGROUND: The wound healing process is complex and still poorly understood. Sericin is a silk protein synthesized by silk worms (Bombyx mori). The objective of this study was to evaluate in vivo wound healing effects of a sericin-containing gel formulation in an incision wound model in rats. MATERIAL/METHODS: Twenty-eight Wistar-Albino rats were divided into 4 groups (n=7). No intervention or treatment was applied to the Intact control group. For other groups, a dorsal skin flap (9×3 cm) was drawn and pulled up with sharp dissection. The Sham operated group received no treatment. The Placebo group received placebo gel without sericin applied to the incision area once a day from day 0 to day 9. The Sericin Group 3 received 1% sericin gel applied to the incision area once a day from day 0 to day 9. Hematoxylin and eosin stain was applied for histological analysis and Mallory-Azan staining was applied for histoimmunochemical analysis of antibodies and iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase), and desmin was applied to paraffin sections of skin wound specimens. Parameters of oxidative stress were measured in the wound area. RESULTS: Epidermal thickness and vascularization were increased, and hair root degeneration, edema, cellular infiltration, collagen discoloration, and necrosis were decreased in Sericin group in comparison to the Placebo group and the Sham operated group. Malonyldialdehyde (MDA) levels were decreased, but superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities were increased in the sericin group. CONCLUSIONS: We found that sericin had significant positive effects on wound healing and antioxidant activity. Sericin-based formulations can improve healing of incision wounds.