Persistent hiccups as a rare presenting symptom of empyema: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Empyema is uncommon owing to antibiotic use but still affects patient health if not treated. Hiccups as the initial symptom of empyema are rare; however, empyema should be considered if a patient has persistent hiccups with unexplained fever. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of persistent hiccups, left upper quadrant abdominal pain, and fever on day 1, and total left lung white-out and empyema on day 3. The hiccups resolved gradually after antibiotic treatment and surgical decortication. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should consider the possibility of empyema and conduct a chest computed tomography study if unexplained fever and persistent hiccups coexist.

Adequate emergency department resource usage: Applying simulation-based workshop to improve teaching competence among elementary and junior high school teachers in Taiwan.

INTRODUCTION: More than 80% of patients who visited Emergency Department (ED) was not urgent in Taiwan in 2019. It causes insufficient medical services and a latent fiscal threat to the Nation Health Insurance (NHI). This study adopted simulation-based educating modules to explore the effect in teaching competence among primary and middle school teachers for efficient AEDRU (adequate emergency department resource usage) education in the future. METHOD: The subjects were 414 elementary and junior high school teachers in Taiwan. 214 participants attended the simulation-based workshop as the simulation-based group, whereas 200 participants took an online self-learning module as the self-learning group. The workshop was created by an expert panel for decreasing the unnecessary usage amount of ED medial resources. The materials are lecture, board games, miniature ED modules, and simulation-based scenarios. A teaching competence questionnaire including ED knowledge, teaching attitude, teaching skills, and teaching self-efficacy was conducted among participants before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed via McNemar, paired t test and the generalized estimating equations (GEE). RESULTS: The study showed that teachers who participated in the simulation-based workshop had improved more in teaching competence than those who received the online self-learning module. In addition, there were significant differences between the pre-test and post-test among the two groups in teaching competence. CONCLUSION: The simulation-based workshop is effective and it should be spread out. When students know how to use ED medical resources properly, they could affect their families. It can help the ED service to be used properly and benefits the finance of the NHI. The health care cost will be managed while also improving health.

Pentoxifylline decreases post-operative intra-abdominal adhesion formation in an animal model.

BACKGROUND: Intra-abdominal adhesions develop after nearly every abdominal surgery, commonly causing female infertility, chronic pelvic pain, and small bowel obstruction. Pentoxifylline (PTX) is a methylxanthine compound with immunomodulatory and antifibrotic properties. The aim of this study was to investigate whether PTX can reduce post-operative intra-abdominal adhesion formation via collagen deposition, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) level, inflammation, angiogenesis, and fibrosis. METHODS: Seventy male BALB/c mice were randomized into one of three groups: (1) sham group without peritoneal adhesion model; (2) peritoneal adhesion model (PA group); (3) peritoneal adhesion model with PTX (100 mg/kg/day i.p.) administration was started on preoperative day 2 and continued daily (PA + PTX group). On postoperative day 3 and day 7, adhesions were assessed using the Lauder scoring system. Parietal peritoneum was obtained for histological evaluation with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and picrosirius red staining. Fibrinolysis was analyzed by tPA protein levels in the peritoneum by ELISA. Immunohistological analysis was also conducted using markers for angiogenesis (ki67+/CD31+), inflammation (F4/80+) and fibrosis (FSP-1+ and α-SMA+). All the comparisons were made by comparing the PA group with the PTX treated PA group, and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Intra-abdominal adhesions were markedly reduced by PTX treatment. Compared with the PA group, PTX treatment had lower adhesion scores than the PA group on both day 3 and day 7 (p < 0.05). Histological evaluations found that PTX treatment reduced collagen deposition and adhesion thickening. ELISA analysis showed that PTX treatment significantly increased the level of tPA in the peritoneum. In addition, in the immunohistological analysis, PTX treatment was found to significantly decrease the number of ki67+/CD31+ cells at the site of adhesion. Finally, we also observed that in the PTX treated group, there was a reduction in the expression of F4/80+, FSP-1+, and α-SMA+ cells at the site of adhesion. CONCLUSION: PTX may decrease intra-abdominal adhesion formation via increasing peritoneal fibrinolytic activity, suppressing angiogenesis, decreasing collagen synthesis, and reducing peritoneal fibrosis. Our findings suggest that PTX can be used to decrease post-operative intra-abdominal adhesion formation.

A mobile indoor positioning system based on iBeacon technology.

To increase the efficiency in the emergency room, the goal of this research is to implement a mobile-based indoor positioning system using mobile applications (APP) with the iBeacon solution based on the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. We use the Received Signal Strength (RSS) based localization method to estimate the patients' locations. Our positioning algorithm achieves 97.22% (95% Confidence Interval = 95.90% - 98.55%) accuracy of classification. As the result, our mechanism is reliable enough to satisfy the need for medical staff to track the locations of their patients.

Hypothermia decreases postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion formation.

BACKGROUND: Hypothermia may decrease postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion. We sought to determine the most suitable temperature for hypothermia for decreasing postoperative adhesion formation. METHODS: One hundred and twenty male BALB/c mice weighing 25 to 30 g were randomized into 5 groups: adhesion model with infusion of cold saline at (I) 15°C; (II) 10°C; or (III) 4°C; (IV) adhesion model without infusion of saline; and (V) sham operation without infusion of saline. Adhesion scores, incidence of adhesion, and serum cytokine levels were measured at postoperative days 1, 3, 7, and 14. RESULTS: Adhesion scores among groups I, II, and III did not differ significantly. Interleukin-6 was significantly decreased in groups I, II, and III, compared to the levels in groups IV and V (P < .05). Tumor necrosis factor-α levels in groups I and II were significantly decreased compared to those in groups III, IV, and V (P < .05). CONCLUSION: We suggest that 15°C is the appropriate temperature for induction of hypothermia to decrease postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion formation.

An observational study of extracorporeal CPR for in-hospital cardiac arrest secondary to myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) in patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) due to acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS: IHCA patients due to AMI undergoing CPR between 1 January 2006 and 1 July 2010 were analysed retrospectively. We compared the survival outcome of 43 patients who received ECPR with that of 23 patients who underwent conventional CPR. RESULTS: The survival rate was 34.9% for patients who received ECPR and 21.8% for those who received conventional CPR (p=0.4). Increased survival rates to hospital discharge were seen in patients with ST segment elevation (p<0.01), or had initial rhythm of ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF) during resuscitation (p=0.031). CONCLUSIONS: ECPR may improve survival in cardiac arrest patients who have a ST segment elevation or initial rhythm of VT/VF myocardial infarction.

Biphasic versus monophasic defibrillation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Biphasic defibrillation is more effective than monophasic one in controlled in-hospital conditions. The present review evaluated the performance of both waveforms in the defibrillation of patients of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) with initial ventricular fibrillation (Vf) rhythm under the context of current recommendations for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. METHODS: From inception to June 2012, Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched systemically for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational cohort studies that compared the effects of biphasic and monophasic shocks on Vf termination, return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), and survival to hospital discharge in OHCA patients with initial Vf rhythm. No restrictions were applied regarding language, population, or publication year. RESULTS: Four RCTs including 572 patients were identified from 131 potentially relevant references for meta-analysis. The synthesis of these RCTs yielded fixed-effect pooled risk ratios (RRs) for biphasic and monophasic waveforms on Vf termination survival to hospital discharge (RR, 1.14; 95% CI, [0.84-1.54]). CONCLUSION: Biphasic waveforms did not seem superior to monophasic ones with respect to Vf termination, ROSC, or survival to hospital discharge in OHCA patients with initial Vf rhythm under the context of current guidelines. However, most trials were conducted in accordance with previous guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Therefore, further trials are needed to clarify this issue.

Target blood pressure for hypotensive resuscitation.

BACKGROUND: Good outcomes have resulted from hypotensive resuscitation of hemorrhagic shock patients. We hypothesized that mean arterial pressure (MAP) 60mmHg is the target blood pressure for hypotensive resuscitation during uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock in trauma. METHODS: To determine the effective target MAP for hypotensive resuscitation during uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock, we randomly assigned 80 rats to one of 8 treatment groups (n=10 for each group). We then observed the effects of different target MAPs (control, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90mmHg, and sham) on fluid resuscitation of uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock. Blood pressure, serum lactate, hematocrit, fluid therapy, blood loss, and plasma cytokine levels were measured at 0, 30, 90, 120, 180, 240, 300min after the start of the surgical procedure. RESULTS: A target MAP of 90, 80 and 70mmHg had increased blood loss and decreased hematocrit and IL-6 and TNF-α production. A target MAP of 60, 50 and 40mmHg had lower blood loss, good hematocrit, higher IL-6 and TNF-α production, and decreased animal survival. Only target MAPs of 40 and 50 had and decreased animal survival. The differences in blood loss, hematocrit, lactate, post-resuscitation MAP, survival, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α production between rats with a target MAP of 60mmHg and those with a target MAP of 70mmHg were not significant. The amount of fluid therapy in the BP 60 groups was less than in the BP 70 groups (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: A MAP of 60mmHg should be considered for evaluation in human studies as a target for hypotensive resuscitation.

The impact of adding clinical assistants on patient waiting time in a crowded emergency department.

BACKGROUND: Emergency department (ED) crowding causes prolonged waiting times. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the potential benefit of introducing clinical assistants to a busy and crowded ED. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study at an urban, academic tertiary medical centre. We introduced one clinical assistant to each ED shift. The main task of clinical assistants was managing the flow of incoming ED patients. The case group consisted of all adult non-trauma emergency patients during the case period from 1 September to 30 November 2008. The first control group consisted of all adult non-trauma emergency patients between 1 June and 31 August 2008 and the second control group consisted of all patients treated between 1 September and 30 November 2007. The primary outcome was the 'waiting time', defined as the time from triage to the time of the first medical order entered into the computer system. The secondary outcome was the number of adult non-trauma emergency patients who left the ED without being seen. RESULTS: There were 12 257 cases and 25 950 controls. The mean and median waiting times were significantly shorter in the case group. The mean waiting time of the case group was 20.86 min, which was 4.51 min (17.8%) shorter than that of the first control group and 7.41 min (26.2%) shorter than that of the second control group. The median waiting time of the case group was also significantly shorter than those of the control groups. The number of the patients who left without being seen was significantly smaller in the case period. CONCLUSIONS: In a busy and crowded ED, the introduction of clinical assistants to an existing emergency health service effectively reduces patient waiting times and decreases the number of patients leaving without being seen.

A systematic review of retention of adult advanced life support knowledge and skills in healthcare providers.

OBJECTIVE: Advanced life support (ALS) guidelines are widely adopted for healthcare provider training with recommendations for retraining every two years or longer. This systematic review studies the retention of adult ALS knowledge and skills following completion of an ALS course in healthcare providers. METHODS: We retrieved original articles using Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and PubMed, and reviewed reference citations to identify additional studies. We extracted data from included articles using a structured approach and organized outcomes by evaluation method, and knowledge and skills retention. RESULTS: Among 336 articles retrieved, 11 papers were included. Most studies used multiple-choice questionnaires to evaluate knowledge retention and cardiac arrest simulation or other skills tests to evaluate skills retention. All studies reported variable rates of knowledge or skills deterioration over time, from 6 weeks to 2 years after training. Two studies noted retention of knowledge at 18 months and up to 2 years, and one reported skills retention at 3 months. Clinical experience, either prior to or after the courses, has a positive impact on retention of knowledge and skills. CONCLUSION: There is a lack of large well-designed studies examining the retention of adult ALS knowledge and skills in healthcare providers. The available evidence suggests that ALS knowledge and skills decay by 6 months to 1 year after training and that skills decay faster than knowledge. Additional studies are needed to help provide evidence-based recommendations for assessment of current knowledge and skills and need for refresher training to maximize maintenance of ALS competency.

Ultrasonographic lung sliding sign in confirming proper endotracheal intubation during emergency intubation.

AIM OF STUDY: Unrecognized one-lung intubations (also known as main-stem intubation) can lead to hypoventilation, atelectasis, barotrauma, and even patient death. Many traditional methods can be employed to detect one-lung intubation; however, each of these methods has limitations and is not consistently reliable in emergency settings. This study aimed to assess the accuracy and timeliness of ultrasound to confirm proper endotracheal intubation. METHODS: This was a prospective, single-center, observational study conducted at the emergency department of a national university teaching hospital. Patients received emergency tracheal intubation because of respiratory failure or cardiac arrest. After intubation, bedside ultrasound was performed with a transducer placed on the chest bilaterally at the mid-axillary line, to identify lung sliding over the lungs bilaterally during ventilation. Chest radiography was used as the criterion standard for confirmation of endotracheal tube position. RESULTS: One hundred and fifteen patients needing tracheal intubation were included, and nine (7.8%) had one-lung intubations. The overall accuracy of ultrasound to confirm proper endotracheal intubation was 88.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 81.6-93.3%). The positive predictive value was 94.7% (95% CI: 87.1-97.9%) in the non-cardiac-arrest group and 100% (95% CI: 87.1-100.0%) in the cardiac-arrest group. The median operating time of ultrasound was 88 s (interquartile range [IQR]: 55.0, 193.0), and of chest radiography was 1349 s (IQR: 879.0, 2221.0) post intubation. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the positive predictive value of bilateral lung sliding in confirming proper endotracheal intubation was high, especially among patients with cardiac arrest. Considerable time advantage of ultrasound over chest radiography was demonstrated.

Tracheal rapid ultrasound exam (T.R.U.E.) for confirming endotracheal tube placement during emergency intubation.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy and timeliness of using tracheal ultrasound to examine endotracheal tube placement during emergency intubation. METHODS: This was a prospective, observational study, conducted at the emergency department of a national university teaching hospital. Patients received emergency intubation because of impending respiratory failure, cardiac arrest, or severe trauma. The tracheal rapid ultrasound exam (T.R.U.E.) was performed during emergency intubation with the transducer placed transversely at the trachea over the suprasternal notch. Quantitative waveform capnography was used as the criterion standard for confirmation of tracheal intubation. The main outcome was the concordance between the T.R.U.E. and the capnography. RESULTS: A total of 112 patients were included in the analysis, and 17 (15.2%) had esophageal intubations. The overall accuracy of the T.R.U.E. was 98.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 93.7-99.5%). The kappa (κ) value was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.84-1.00), indicating a high degree of agreement between the T.R.U.E. and capnography. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the T.R.U.E. were 98.9% (95% CI: 94.3-99.8%), 94.1% (95% CI: 73.0-99.0%), 98.9% (95% CI: 94.3-99.8%) and 94.1% (95% CI: 73.0-99.0%). The median operating time of the T.R.U.E. was 9.0s (interquartile range [IQR]: 6.0, 14.0). CONCLUSIONS: The application of the T.R.U.E. to examine endotracheal tube placement during emergency intubation is feasible, and can be rapidly performed.

Validation of the Taiwan triage and acuity scale: a new computerised five-level triage system.

OBJECTIVE: An ideal emergency department (ED) triage system accurately prioritises patients on the basis of the urgency of interventions required to avoid under- or over-triage. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a five-level Taiwan triage and acuity scale (TTAS) with an electronic decision support tool. METHODS: This prospective, multicentre, observational study included 10533 patients triaged at 11 academic medical centres, 18 regional and four district hospitals. Adult patients presenting to the ED were independently triaged by the duty triage nurse in the usual way and trained research nurses using TTAS with a computerised decision support system. Weighted κ statistics were used to assess the reproducibility. Hospitalisation, length of stay, and medical resource consumption were analysed by TTAS acuity levels. RESULTS: Most cases were stratified into levels 2 to 3 by the existing four-level triage system, whereas the TTAS stratified most patients to levels 3 (41.4%) and 4 (25.0%), and only a small number to level 1 (3.9%) (resuscitation; most urgent). Weighted κ for TTAS assignment was 0.87 (95% CI 0.85 to 0.89). The decrease in mean medical resource consumption and hospitalisation rate was statistically significant with each decrease in the TTAS triage acuity level. The length of stay also decreased significantly as the TTAS level acuity fell from levels 2 to 5. CONCLUSIONS: The TTAS was found to be a reliable triage system that accurately prioritises the treatment needed to avoid overtriage, more efficiently deploying the appropriate resources to ED patients.

High-dose vs non-high-dose proton pump inhibitors after endoscopic treatment in patients with bleeding peptic ulcer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: High-dose proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) (80-mg bolus, followed by 8-mg/h continuous infusion for 72 hours) have been widely studied and used. However, to date no concrete evidence has shown that high-dose PPIs are more effective than non-high-dose PPIs. METHODS: We performed a literature search for randomized controlled trials that compared the use of high-dose PPIs vs non-high-dose PPIs in patients with bleeding peptic ulcer and determined their effects on rebleeding, surgical intervention, and mortality. Outcomes data were combined in a meta-analysis and were reported as odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: A total of 1157 patients from 7 high-quality randomized studies were included in this meta-analysis. High-dose PPIs and non-high-dose PPIs did not differ in their effects on the rates of rebleeding (7 studies and 1157 patients; OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 0.88-1.91), surgical intervention (6 studies and 1052 patients; 1.49; 0.66-3.37), or mortality (6 studies and 1052 patients; 0.89; 0.37-2.13). Post hoc subgroup analyses revealed that summary outcomes measures were unaffected by severity of signs of recent hemorrhage at initial endoscopy, route of PPI administration, or PPI dose. CONCLUSION: Compared with non-high-dose PPIs, high-dose PPIs do not further reduce the rates of rebleeding, surgical intervention, or mortality after endoscopic treatment in patients with bleeding peptic ulcer.

Peritoneal infusion with cold saline decreased postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion formation.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion is a common morbidity after laparotomy. We try to determine whether peritoneal infusion with cold saline may decrease postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion formation. METHODS: Ninety-six male BALB/c mice weighing 25-30 g were randomized into four groups: (I) adhesion model with infusion of 4 degrees C cold saline, (II) adhesion model with infusion of room temperature saline, (III) adhesion model without infusion of saline, and (IV) sham operation without infusion of saline. Adhesion scores, incidence of adhesion, and serum cytokines were measured at postoperative days 1, 3, 7, and 14. RESULTS: Group I had lower adhesion scores than groups II and III (P < 0.0001). IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-alpha were significantly increased in the groups I, II, and III compared to group IV (P < 0.0001). IL-6 in group I was significantly decreased compared to that in group III (P < 0.0004). IL-10 in group I was significantly increased compared to that in groups II (P < 0.0001) and III (P < 0.05). TNF-alpha in group I was significantly decreased compared to that in groups II (P < 0.0004), and III (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Peritoneal infusion with cold saline may decrease the degree of postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion formation.