Ingested endotracheal tube in an adult following intubation attempt for head injury.

General surgeons are often consulted for assistance in the management of ingested foreign bodies. Deglutition of an endotracheal tube is an unusual complication of airway management. In these cases, the artificial airway is "lost" when it becomes lodged deep into the esophagus. Endoscopic extraction has been described as therapeutic. We report a case in which prehospital endotracheal intubation attempt for the management of closed head injury resulted in a swallowed endotracheal tube. The tube remained undetected until radiographs were performed for a second unrelated traumatic event 2 years later. Endoscopic extraction was unsuccessful, due to rigidity of the tube. Surgical extraction via gastrotomy was uneventful. Surgeons involved in trauma and other emergency settings should be aware of this complication and options in management.

Acute urinary retention: an unusual presentation of appendiceal abscess.

Emergency physicians frequently encounter patients with acute urinary retention. Although most common among the elderly, pediatric and young adult patients occasionally may present with this complaint. The differential diagnosis and emergency department work-up must be age specific. We discuss the case of a young man who presented with acute urinary retention, subsequently found to be caused by undiagnosed appendicitis with appendiceal abscess formation. Only nine such cases have been reported in the literature thus far, with only one occurring in the nonpediatric population. This case represents the second such case to be reported. The importance of a thorough history, physical examination, and diagnostic work-up of patients who present with acute urinary retention, particularly those in the younger age group, is emphasized.

Arteriovenous malformation of the vein of Galen: a rare cerebral arteriovenous malformation.

A 32-year-old male presented to the emergency department for evaluation of a 12-day history of altered mental status. Workup revealed the presence of an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) of the great vein of Galen, an exceedingly rare and often fatal type of cerebral vascular malformation. Concurrent aneurysmic dilatation of the vein, a frequent finding associated with this type of AVM, resulted in compression of the aqueduct of Sylvius and acute hydrocephalus. A brief review of cerebral AVMs is presented, with specific attention to the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and emergent treatment of those that involve the vein of Galen.

Emergency department experience with sudden death: a survey of survivors.

Sudden death in the emergency department occurs frequently. Intervention by ED support staff may have a significant impact on the survivor's grief response. This study was undertaken to assess sudden death survivors' perceptions and satisfaction with their ED experience, as well as to identify potential weaknesses in their management. Family members of 66 patients who died in the ED from January 1980 to March 1985 were surveyed by telephone interview regarding the care they, as survivors, received while in the ED. Forty-seven of 66 (71%) were satisfied, 19 of 66 (29%) believed that their family received average or worse than average care. Thirty-seven of 66 (56%) survivors viewed the deceased in the ED; five regretted this. Twenty-nine survivors did not view; seven (24%) had regrets. Participants were questioned about attitudes expressed by the ED staff. Most responses were favorable, but a significant number thought the staff cold, unsympathetic, and not reassuring. Areas of apparent survivor dissatisfaction are discussed.

Rural interhospital helicopter transport of motor vehicle trauma victims: causes for delays and recommendations.

One hundred twenty-six consecutive ACS Category I motor vehicle trauma patients transported by helicopter from 25 hospitals to a regional trauma center in rural Pennsylvania during a 14-month period were reviewed retrospectively. The overall mortality was 13%. Average round-trip distance was 79 miles. Interventions by the medical flight team (emergency physician/nurse) included endotracheal intubation, tube thoracostomy, and/or central venous access in 42 patients (33%) prior to lift-off. Ground time at the referring facility, from landing to lift-off, when no interventions were required of the flight team, averaged 31.2 minutes (baseline). Ground time when major therapeutic interventions were required (principally airway management), however, averaged 57.4 minutes, an 84% increase over baseline (P less than .01). A major cause of the excessive ground times was the lack of standardized diagnostic workup and stabilization of patients prior to arrival of the flight team. Recommendations for standardized emergency department preparation of trauma victims requiring aeromedical evacuation are made.

Intraosseous infusions in the emergency department.

For most emergency physicians and pediatricians, the frustrations encountered when obtaining intravenous access in infants involved in traumatic or medical emergencies are well known. Although it is rare that parenteral access is absolutely unobtainable in a pediatric patient, minutes and sometimes hours are often lost as futile attempts are made to cannulate a collapsed vein of such a patient. Many alternatives to such a crisis situation, including the intratracheal, intracardiac, and sublingual routes of administration, have been proposed and efficaciously used. Disadvantages to these alternatives, however, include the inability to administer volume-expanding colloids or crystalloids, and a relatively narrow spectrum of useful medications. One relatively safe, well-proven, and technically easy method for giving replacement fluids, blood products, and numerous resuscitative drugs is infusion by the intraosseous route. Although not recommended as a replacement for current modes of intravascular access, we feel it has definite utility in selected situations and warrants the awareness of emergency physicians. The value, historical aspects, technique, and complications of this procedure are discussed.

Bilateral posterior fracture-dislocations of the shoulder after convulsive status epilepticus.

Presented is the case of a 30-year-old man who sustained bilateral posterior fracture-dislocations of the shoulder as an unusual complication of status epilepticus. Initial evaluation failed to reveal this unsuspected diagnosis. After improvement in the patient's mental status, his subjective complaints made the diagnosis evident. He subsequently underwent hemiarthroplasty for one shoulder and active assisted range of motion exercises for the other, with partial return of function in both arms.