Diagnostic Accuracy of Abdominal wall Ultrasonography and Local Wound Exploration in Predicting the Need for Laparotomy following Stab Wound

Introduction: Screening of patients with anterior abdominal penetrating trauma in need for laparotomy is an important issue in management of these cases. This study aimed to compare the accuracy of abdominal wall ultrasonography (AWU) and local wound exploration (LWE) in this regard.Methods: This diagnostic accuracy study was conducted on ≥ 18 year-old patients presenting to emergency department with anterior abdominal stab wound and stable hemodynamics, to compare the characteristics of AWU and LWE in screening of patients in need of laparotomy.Results: 50 cases with the mean age of 28.44 ± 7.14 years were included (80% male). Sensitivity, specificity and area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of AWU were 70.58 (95% CI: 44.04 – 88.62), 93.33 (95% CI: 76.49 – 98.83), and 81.96 (95% CI: 69.91 – 94.01), respectively. These measures were 88.23 (62.25 – 97.93), 93.33 (76.49 – 98.83), and 90.78 (95% CI: 81.67 – 99.89) for LWE, respectively. The difference in overall accuracy of the two methods was not statistically significant (p = 0.0641).Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, AWU and LWE had the same specificity but different sensitivities in screening of anterior abdominal stab wound patients in need of laparotomy. The overall accuracy of LWE was slightly higher (91.48% versus 85.1%)

Quality of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Emergency Department Based on the AHA 2015 Guidelines; a Brief Report

Introduction: Adhering to existing guidelines on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can increase the survival rate of the patients. The present study has been designed with the aim of determining the quality of CPR performed in the emergency department based on the latest protocol by the American heart association (AHA).Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study CPR process was audited in patients above 18 years old in need of CPR presenting to the emergency departments of 3 teaching hospitals based on the AHA 2015 guidelines. Less than 60% agreement was considered as fail, 60-70% as poor, 70-80% as moderate, 80-90% as good, and 90-100% as excellent.Results: 80 cases of CPR were audited (55% male).  Location of arrest was the hospital in 58 (72.5%) cases and 48 (60.0%) of the cases happened during the day. 28 (35.0%) cases had orotracheal intubation before the initiation of CPR. 30 (37.5%) patients had a shockable rhythm at the initiation of CPR. Based on the findings, out of the 31 studied items, 9 (29.03%) had excellent agreement, 10 (32.25%) had good, 4 (12.90%) had moderate, 2 (6.45%) had poor, and 6 (19.35%) had fail agreement rate.Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, the quality of applying the principles of basic and advanced CPR in the emergency department of the studied hospital had intermediate, poor and fail agreement with the recommendations of the AHA 2015 in at least one third of the cases

A Comparison of the Effects of Dexmedetomidine and Propofol in Controlling the Hemodynamic Responses after Intubation: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Clinical Trial Study

AIM: This study aimed to compare the effects of dexmedetomidine and propofol in controlling the hemodynamic response following intubation of patients’ candidate intubation in the emergency department METHODS: A total of 114 patients were randomly assigned to one of 2 groups to receive one of the following treatments: dexmedetomidine 0.4 µg/kg (Group D, n = 57) and propofol 1–1.5 mg/kg/h (Group P, n = 57). Hemodynamic data such as the systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, arterial oxygen saturation and heart rate (HR) were recorded from the entrance to operation room to 5, 10 and 15 min after tracheal intubation RESULTS: Compared with group D, group P exhibited increases in mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), and systolic blood pressure significantly at all times and immediately after the endotracheal intubation. Moreover, the mean diastolic blood pressure changes due to tracheal intubation in group P were significantly more than group D immediately after the intubation. Furthermore, the mean heart rate changes immediately and 5 min after tracheal intubation was significantly higher in group P CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that the benefits of dexmedetomidine more than propofol in hemodynamic stability because propofol was associated with more variability in systolic/diastolic blood pressure, HR and MAP after endotracheal intubation