Acute emergency care and airway management of caustic ingestion in adults: single center observational study

Background: Caustic ingestions are rare but potentially life-threatening events requiring multidisciplinary emergency approaches. Although particularly respiratory functions may be impaired after caustic ingestions, studies involving acute emergency care are scarce. The goal of this study was to explore acute emergency care with respect to airway management and emergency department (ED) infrastructures. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated adult patients after caustic ingestions admitted to our university hospital over a 10-year period (2005–2014). Prognostic analysis included age, morbidity, ingested agent, airway management, interventions (endoscopy findings, computed tomography (CT), surgical procedures), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, length of stay in hospital and hospital mortality. Results: Twenty-eight patients with caustic ingestions were included in the analysis of which 18 (64 %) had suicidal intentions. Ingested agents were caustic alkalis (n = 22; 79 %) and acids (n = 6; 21 %). ICU admission was required in 20 patients (71 %). Fourteen patients (50 %) underwent tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation, of which 3 (21 %) presented with difficult airways. Seven patients (25 %) underwent tracheotomy including one requiring awake tracheotomy due to progressive upper airway obstruction. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) was performed in 21 patients (75 %) and 11 (39 %) underwent CT examination. Five patients (18 %) required emergency surgery with a mortality of 60 %. Overall hospital mortality was 18 % whereas the need for tracheal intubation (P = 0.012), CT-diagnostic (P = 0.001), higher EGD score (P = 0.006), tracheotomy (P = 0.048), and surgical interventions (P = 0.005) were significantly associated with mortality. Conclusions: Caustic ingestions in adult patients require an ED infrastructure providing 24/7-availability of expertise in establishing emergent airway safety, endoscopic examination (EGD and bronchoscopy), and CT diagnostic, intensive care and emergency esophageal surgery. We recommend that - even in patients with apparently stable clinical conditions - careful monitoring of respiratory functions should be considered as long as diagnostic work-up is completed

Erfahrungen, Herausforderungen und Lösungsansätze aus der Extraktion pseudonymer Daten für das Projekt INDEED

Background: In Germany there is currently no health reporting on cross-sectoral care patterns in the context of an emergency department care treatment. The INDEED project (Utilization and trans-sectoral patterns of care for patients admitted to emergency departments in Germany) collects routine data from 16 emergency departments, which are later merged with outpatient billing data from 2014 to 2017 on an individual level. Aim: The methodological challenges in planning of the internal merging of routine clinical and administrative data from emergency departments in Germany up to the final data extraction are presented together with possible solution approaches. Methods: Data were selected in an iterative process according to the research questions, medical relevance, and assumed data availability. After a preparatory phase to clarify formalities (including data protection, ethics), review test data and correct if necessary, the encrypted and pseudonymous data extraction was performed. Results: Data from the 16 cooperating emergency departments came mostly from the emergency department and hospital information systems. There was considerable heterogeneity in the data. Not all variables were available in every emergency department because, for example, they were not standardized and digitally available or the extraction effort was judged to be too high. Conclusion: Relevant data from emergency departments are stored in different structures and in several IT systems. Thus, the creation of a harmonized data set requires considerable resources on the part of the hospital as well as the data processing unit. This needs to be generously calculated for future projects

Acute emergency care and airway management of caustic ingestion in adults: single center observational study

Background: Caustic ingestions are rare but potentially life-threatening events requiring multidisciplinary emergency approaches. Although particularly respiratory functions may be impaired after caustic ingestions, studies involving acute emergency care are scarce. The goal of this study was to explore acute emergency care with respect to airway management and emergency department (ED) infrastructures. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated adult patients after caustic ingestions admitted to our university hospital over a 10-year period (2005–2014). Prognostic analysis included age, morbidity, ingested agent, airway management, interventions (endoscopy findings, computed tomography (CT), surgical procedures), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, length of stay in hospital and hospital mortality. Results: Twenty-eight patients with caustic ingestions were included in the analysis of which 18 (64 %) had suicidal intentions. Ingested agents were caustic alkalis (n = 22; 79 %) and acids (n = 6; 21 %). ICU admission was required in 20 patients (71 %). Fourteen patients (50 %) underwent tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation, of which 3 (21 %) presented with difficult airways. Seven patients (25 %) underwent tracheotomy including one requiring awake tracheotomy due to progressive upper airway obstruction. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) was performed in 21 patients (75 %) and 11 (39 %) underwent CT examination. Five patients (18 %) required emergency surgery with a mortality of 60 %. Overall hospital mortality was 18 % whereas the need for tracheal intubation (P = 0.012), CT-diagnostic (P = 0.001), higher EGD score (P = 0.006), tracheotomy (P = 0.048), and surgical interventions (P = 0.005) were significantly associated with mortality. Conclusions: Caustic ingestions in adult patients require an ED infrastructure providing 24/7-availability of expertise in establishing emergent airway safety, endoscopic examination (EGD and bronchoscopy), and CT diagnostic, intensive care and emergency esophageal surgery. We recommend that - even in patients with apparently stable clinical conditions - careful monitoring of respiratory functions should be considered as long as diagnostic work-up is completed

Insertion Success of the Laryngeal Tube in Emergency Airway Management

Background. Emergency airway management (AM) is a priority when resuscitating critically ill or severely injured patients. The goal of this study was to determine the success rates of LT insertion during AM. Methods. Studies that included LT first-pass insertion (FPI) and overall-pass insertion (OPI) success by emergency medical services and in-hospital providers performing AM for emergency situations as well as for scheduled surgery published until July 2014 were searched systematically in Medline. Results. Data of 36 studies (n = 1,897) reported a LT FPI success by physicians of 82.5% with an OPI success of 93.6% (p<0.001). A cumulative analysis of all 53 studies (n = 3,600) led to FPI and OPI success of 80.1% and 92.6% (p<0.001), respectively. The results of 26 studies (n = 2,159) comparing the LT with the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) demonstrated a FPI success of 77.0 versus 78.7% (p=0.36) and an OPI success of 92.2 versus 97.7% (p<0.001). Conclusion. LT insertion failed in the first attempt in one out of five patients, with an overall failure rate in one out of 14 patients. When compared with the LT, the LMA had a cumulative 5.5% better OPI success rate

Comparison of the Fluid Resuscitation Rate with and without External Pressure Using Two Intraosseous Infusion Systems for Adult Emergencies, the CITRIN (Comparison of InTRaosseous infusion systems in emergency medicINe)-Study.

Intraosseous infusion is recommended if peripheral venous access fails for cardiopulmonary resuscitation or other medical emergencies. The aim of this study, using body donors, was to compare a semi-automatic (EZ-IO®) device at two insertion sites and a sternal intraosseous infusion device (FASTR™).Twenty-seven medical students being inexperienced first-time users were randomized into three groups using EZ-IO and FASTR. The following data were evaluated: attempts required for successful placement, insertion time and flow rates with and without external pressure to the infusion.The first-pass insertion success of the EZ-IO tibia, EZ-IO humerus and FASTR was 91%, 77%, and 95%, respectively. Insertion times (MW ± SD) did not show significant differences with 17 ± 7 (EZ-IO tibia) vs. 29 ± 42 (EZ-IO humerus) vs. 33 ± 21 (FASTR), respectively. One-minute flow rates using external pressures between 0 mmHg and 300 mmHg ranged between 27 ± 5 to 69 ± 54 ml/min (EZ-IO tibia), 16 ± 3 to 60 ± 44 ml/min (EZ-IO humerus) and 53 ± 2 to 112 ± 47 ml/min (FASTR), respectively. Concerning pressure-related increases in flow rates, negligible correlations were found for the EZ-IO tibia in all time frames (c = 0.107-0.366; p ≤ 0.013), moderate positive correlations were found for the EZ-IO humerus after 5 minutes (c = 0.489; p = 0.021) and strong positive correlations were found for the FASTR in all time frames (c = 0.63-0.80; p ≤ 0.007). Post-hoc statistical power was 0.62 with the given sample size.The experiments with first-time users applying EZ-IO and FASTR in body donors indicate that both devices may be effective intraosseous infusion devices, likely suitable for fluid resuscitation using a pressure bag. Variations in flow rate may limit their reliability. Larger sample sizes will prospectively be required to substantiate our findings

Acute emergency care and airway management of caustic ingestion in adults: single center observational study

Background: Caustic ingestions are rare but potentially life-threatening events requiring multidisciplinary emergency approaches. Although particularly respiratory functions may be impaired after caustic ingestions, studies involving acute emergency care are scarce. The goal of this study was to explore acute emergency care with respect to airway management and emergency department (ED) infrastructures. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated adult patients after caustic ingestions admitted to our university hospital over a 10-year period (2005–2014). Prognostic analysis included age, morbidity, ingested agent, airway management, interventions (endoscopy findings, computed tomography (CT), surgical procedures), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, length of stay in hospital and hospital mortality. Results: Twenty-eight patients with caustic ingestions were included in the analysis of which 18 (64 %) had suicidal intentions. Ingested agents were caustic alkalis (n = 22; 79 %) and acids (n = 6; 21 %). ICU admission was required in 20 patients (71 %). Fourteen patients (50 %) underwent tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation, of which 3 (21 %) presented with difficult airways. Seven patients (25 %) underwent tracheotomy including one requiring awake tracheotomy due to progressive upper airway obstruction. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) was performed in 21 patients (75 %) and 11 (39 %) underwent CT examination. Five patients (18 %) required emergency surgery with a mortality of 60 %. Overall hospital mortality was 18 % whereas the need for tracheal intubation (P = 0.012), CT-diagnostic (P = 0.001), higher EGD score (P = 0.006), tracheotomy (P = 0.048), and surgical interventions (P = 0.005) were significantly associated with mortality. Conclusions: Caustic ingestions in adult patients require an ED infrastructure providing 24/7-availability of expertise in establishing emergent airway safety, endoscopic examination (EGD and bronchoscopy), and CT diagnostic, intensive care and emergency esophageal surgery. We recommend that - even in patients with apparently stable clinical conditions - careful monitoring of respiratory functions should be considered as long as diagnostic work-up is completed

Porosity and herbicide leaching in soils amended with olive-mill wastewater

Organic amendments used to enrich soils of low organic matter contents can affect sorption and movement of pesticides in soils. In this work we studied the effect of olive oil mill wastewater (OOW) soil amendment on so porosity and on leaching of the herbicides clopyralid (3,6-dichloropicolinic acid) and metamitron (4-amino-3-methyl-6-phenyl- 1,2,4-triazine-5(4H)-one) in clay soil columns. OOW amendment resulted in an increase in the organic carbon content of the soils and a reduction in soil porosity, the latter confirmed by mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies. MIP and SEM data showed the reduction in porosity is basically due to a reduction in large pores (radius > 0.1 μm) and an important increase in finer pores (radius < 0.1 μm). These changes in porosity are produced by the combined effect of the suspended and soluble organic matter and salts in the OOW and the solubilization-insolubilization of the soil carbonate minerals promoted by OOW. Soil columns were handpacked with the unamended clay soil and with the same soil which had been treated for 3 yrs with two different doses of OOW (low dose: 300 ml/m2 a year and high dose: 600 ml/m2 a year). Clopyralid moved more rapidly than metamitron in the unamended soil due to greater sorption and degradation of metamitron. Total amounts of clopyralid leached from the OOW, amended soils were significantly reduced (75 and 25% for the lower and higher dose respectively) when compared with the unamended soil (100%) whereas metamitron did not each at all from the amended soils. Sorption and degradation studies with soil slurry suggested this reduction may be mainly due to an increase in sorption and degradation processes in amended soils, as a consequence of the increase in the organic carbon content. However the decrease in mobility produced by OOW amendment is greater than that suggested from the sorption and degradation increases. The reduction in large size conducting pores and the increase in the small non-conducting pores, induced by OOW amendment, produce an increase in the residence nine of the herbicides in the immobile water phase, enhancing diffusion, sorption and degradation processes, thereby retarding mobility. The retarding effect was more pronounced for metamitron than for clopyralid due to the higher sorptivity and degradability of the former herbicide. These results suggest the possible use of the OOW or similar wastewater amendment in reducing the contamination of groundwater by pesticide drainage.Peer Reviewe

Elevated admission lactate levels in the emergency department are associated with increased 30-day mortality in non-trauma critically ill patients

Background!#!Elevated blood lactate levels were reported as useful predictors of clinical outcome and mortality in critically ill patients. To identify higher-risk patients, this investigation evaluated the relationship between patient mortality and admission lactate levels during the management of non-trauma critically ill patients in the emergency department (ED).!##!Methods!#!In this prospective, single centre observational study in a German university ED, all adult patients who were admitted to the ED resuscitation room were evaluated between September 1, 2014 and August 31, 2015. Blood samples for blood gas analysis, including lactate levels, were obtained immediately at admission. Study endpoint was 30-day mortality.!##!Results!#!During the study period, 532 patients were admitted to the resuscitation room of the ED. The data of 523 patients (98.3%) were available. The overall 30-day mortality was 34.2%. Patients presenting to the resuscitation room with admission lactate levels &amp;lt; 2.0 mmol/l had a 30-day mortality of 22.7%, while admission lactate levels above 8.0 mmol/l were associated with higher mortality (8.0-9.9 mmol/l: OR: 2.83, 95%CI: 1.13-7.11, p = 0.03, and ≥ 10 mmol/l: OR: 7.56, 95%CI: 4.18-13.77, p &amp;lt; 0.001).!##!Conclusion!#!High lactate levels at admission are associated with an increased 24-h and 30-day mortality. These measurements may be used not only to predict mortality, but to help identify patients at risk for becoming critically ill. The breakpoint for mortality may be an ALL ≥8.0 mmol/l

Intra-individual alterations of serum markers routinely used in forensic pathology depending on increasing post-mortem interval

Abstract Post-mortem biochemistry of serum markers has been the subject of numerous studies, but in-situ marker stability after death has not been sufficiently evaluated yet. Such laboratory analyses are especially necessary in the cases of functional deaths without morphological evidence of the death causes and also in cardiac death cases with only very short survival times. The aim of the study was to determine the post-mortem stability of commonly-used serum markers at predefined time points. In 20 cases, peripheral venous samples were taken starting immediately after circulatory arrest and ending 48 hours after death. Serum creatinine, urea, 3-β-hydroxybutyrate, tryptase, myoglobin, troponin T, creatin kinase and creatin kinase-MB have been included. For all markers, we observed increasing marker levels for longer post-mortem intervals. Significant marker level changes began two hours after death. Excessive increases were observed for cardiac and muscle markers. Marker levels showed high intra-assay precision. Furthermore, the markers were robust enough to withstand freeze-thaw cycles. Potential contamination of arteriovenous blood did not influence the post-mortem marker levels. Post-mortem blood should be sampled as soon as possible, as increased post-mortem intervals may heavily change marker levels in-situ in individual cases, whereas the markers are mostly unaffected by laboratory conditions