The effect of physiologic dose of intravenous hydrocortisone in patients with refractory septic shock: a randomized control trial

Objective: Septic shock is a response to infection and tissue hypoperfusion which does not respond to fluid therapy and eventually leads to organ dysfunction. Aggressive treatment of a broad-spectrum antimicrobial and supportive measures are the cornerstones of successful treatment. In addition to the main treatment, there are adjunctive therapies. Steroids are one of the treatments which have been studied in the management of refractory septic shock. Despite numerous studies on the role of steroids in the mortality of severe sepsis and septic shock, still lots of controversies exist. These conflicts are often about the steroid dose and duration of administration. Methods: This was a prospective, randomized-controlled, two-group assignment study. Patients referred to Imam Reza (AS) hospital in Mashhad who had refractory septic shock criteria were randomly divided into two groups: 80 patients were included in each group. After obtaining the baseline cortisol level and cosyntropin test, one group was treated with intravenous hydrocortisone, and the other group was treated with placebo. The response to hydrocortisone, the return of shock duration, and mortality at 28 days were investigated. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 16. For the normally distributed variables, a t test was used for comparisons. Concerning qualitative variables, the chi-square test or Fisher exact test were applied accordingly. Results: The return of shock duration and mortality in intervention group patients was more than control group, but it was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Despite numerous studies in this field, there are various outcomes (mortality rate, rate of return of shock, time of return of shock). These differences can be attributed to high degree of heterogeneity. Perhaps considering the underlying disease and more differentiation could change the return of shock and mortality rate

Comparing the Emergency Medicine Residency Programs in Iran and around the World; a Descriptive Study

Introduction: To identify the strengths and weaknesses of emergency medicine residency curriculum in Iran, and to benefit from the experiences of successful universities, comparative studies are crucial. This study compared the components of the national curriculum of emergency medicine in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia, and Saudi Arabia with Iran. Method: Data for this research was collected by searching the websites of different universities and also contacting them for requesting curriculums. The leading countries in emergency medicine and one of the countries in the Middle East region (Saudi Arabia) along with the World Federation of Emergency Medicine were selected as the sample. The model used in this field is a range model that identifies four stages of description, interpretation, proximity, and comparison in comparative studies. Results: In the curriculum of the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia, and Saudi Arabia, there were lots of similarities in expressing the general characteristics of the curriculum, mission elements, vision, values, and ​beliefs of the discipline, educational strategy, techniques, expected competencies, rotation programs, and evaluation method, which were also similar to the Iranian curriculum. However, the duration of residency for emergency medicine in Iran is three years, which is shorter than other countries. As expected, the number and duration of rotations are less than other countries. Also, the process of entering into this field is different in Iran and is based on an exam for entrance, while most other countries use self-requested residency program. Conclusion: Considering the results of comparing the Iranian curriculum with the curriculums of the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia, and Saudi Arabia, it seems that Iran's program is comprehensive and complete; but, a reappraisal of the course duration and entering options are necessary to eliminate or improve the inadequacies

Pain management in emergency department: intravenous morphine vs. intravenous acetaminophen

Pain is the most common complaint in emergency department and there are several methods for its control. Among them, pharmaceutical methods are the most effective. Although intravenous morphine has been the most common choice for several years, it has some adverse effects. There are many researches about intravenous acetaminophen as an analgesic agent and it appears that it has good analgesic effects for various types of pain. We searched some electronic resources for clinical trials comparing analgesic effects of intravenous acetaminophen vs. intravenous morphine for acute pain treatment in emergency setting.In two clinical trials, the analgesic effect of intravenous acetaminophen has been compared with intravenous morphine for renal colic. The results revealed no significant difference between analgesic effects of two medications. Another clinical trial revealed that intravenous acetaminophen has acceptable analgesic effects on the post-cesarean section pain when combined with other analgesic medications. One study revealed that administration of intravenous acetaminophen compared to placebo before hysterectomy decreased consumption of morphine via patient-controlled analgesia pump and decreased the side effects. Similarly, another study revealed that the infusion of intravenous acetaminophen vs. placebo after orthopedic surgery decreased the consumption of morphine after the surgery. A clinical trial revealed intravenous acetaminophen provided a level of analgesia comparable to intravenous morphine in isolated limb trauma, while causing less side effects than morphine.It appears that intravenous acetaminophen has good analgesic effects for visceral, traumatic and postoperative pains compare with intravenous morphine

Evaluation of the ability of emergency medicine residents in teaching and supervising emergency medicine interns

Background: Approximately 25% of the residents’ time in each shift is allocated to educating lower-level assistants and interns. Assistants have played a major role in interns’ education. Aim: To assess the teaching abilities of emergency medicine assistants in the training and monitoring of medical interns and undergraduate students. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in 2015 at the emergency center of Imam Reza hospital in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. We employed a researcher-made questionnaire to search the capability of emergency medicine residents to assess the teaching capabilities of emergency medicine residents to interns. This questionnaire was completed by 106 interns. The Validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by three specialist experts and reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha (0.94). This questionnaire consists of 24 questions in six areas. The analysis was performed by descriptive statistics using SPSS 16. Result: The study showed that the least favorable score was related to “residents get feedback on each shift” and the highest score was given to “a friendly relationship with the Interns and residents”. Conclusion: Considering the key role of residents in the education and training of future healthcare specialists, training interventions and allocating sufficient time to the proper education of different members of healthcare teams and medical students could largely contribute to the development of clinical training systems

Downward Trend in Maternal Mortality Ratio in Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran

Background & aim: Maternal mortality is defined as the death during pregnancy or up to 42 days postpartum. This study sought to determine the trend of maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and its associated factors in Khorasan Razavi province, Iran. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in Khorasan Razavi Province, North East of Iran, during 2010 to 2014. Data was collected from the reports of Maternal Mortality Committee of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. The MMR was calculated for each period, and its trend was estimated. Chi-square test was used to find the relationship between mode of delivery and direct or indirect causes of maternal death. Results: According to the results, 94 maternal deaths occurred during 2010 to 2014. The total MMR was 17.68 (95%CI: 13.59-21.77) per 100,000 live births. The mean maternal age was 30.7±6.1 years old. Most of the deaths (75.6%) occurred during postpartum period, from which 81% happened following a high-risk pregnancy. In addition, 50% of the mothers had proper numbers of visits during pregnancy. The most direct and indirect causes of maternal death were maternal hemorrhage (24.5%) and cardiovascular diseases (12.8%), respectively. The relative risk of maternal mortality associated with cesarean section was 1.3 in comparison to normal vaginal delivery. Conclusion: The estimation of MMR is essential for decision-making and resource allocation. To reach this goal, a good registration system is needed to register all deaths and their exact causes

مرور نظام مند بر نیازهای آموزشی حرفه مندان بخش اورژانس

Introduction: Educational needs assessment is the first step in formulating training programs that improve the skills and knowledge of human resources and can be an important factor in ensuring the effectiveness of organizational training and improvement, as well as empowering skilled and specialized human resources, which is considered to be of great importance in the health care system. One of the most important departments providing health services is the emergency department, in which upgrading training and skills is very important and necessary due to the compactness of information, complexity of issues, and the need for high speed of operation in this department. Therefore, in this article, the educational needs of physicians and nurses in the emergency department have been explored, based on previous studies. Methods: This research is a systematic review, in which the quality of the included articles has been evaluated using the standard STROBE checklist. Preliminary studies were conducted on articles related to the promotion of emergency medicine education and training of emergency and medical professionals, published from 2010 to 2022, retrieved through searches in Persian language databases (SID, Iranmedex, Magiran), English language databases (Science Direct, PubMed, ProQuest, Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus), and Google Scholar Search Engine. Persian keywords used included combinations of translations of: Emergency, Medical Emergencies, Training, Continuing Education, Training Needs, Required Skills, in combination with Emergency-Related Phrases and English keywords were: Emergency, Education, Continuing Education, Educational Needs, Needs Assessment, which were combined using Boolean Search Methods and Operators including “And” and “OR”. Results: In this study, a systematic review of the educational needs of emergency department professionals was performed. After searching in databases using appropriate keywords, 21 articles that met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. Among the evaluated studies, the highest number of studies were done in the United States (9 articles) and Iran (8 articles). The research method was descriptive-cross-sectional in 18 articles, but there were also Delphi methods and qualitative studies based on interview and content analysis among the studies. Nine studies were done on specialized areas and the rest had conducted needs assessments in general. In terms of target population, nurses, physicians, students and interns, residents, faculty members, and staff and managers, had participated in these studies. Conclusion: Analyzing the results of studies revealed the need for education on correct and rapid diagnosis, taking immediate medical measures, providing correct and standard care, managing critical situations, and communication skills. Although education researchers have made great efforts to identify the educational needs of the emergency department over the past decade, it seems that studies performed in needs assessment studies lack the necessary coherence to introduce effective educational strategies.مقدمه: نیازسنجی آموزشی نخستین گام در تدوین و توسعه برنامه های آموزشی ارتقا دهنده مهارت ها و دانش نیروی انسانی قلمداد می شود و می تواند عامل ایجاد و تضمین اثربخشی کارکرد آموزش و بهسازی سازمانی و نیز توانمندسازی نیروهای انسانی ماهر و متخصص محسوب شود که در نظام سلامت از اهمیت بسزایی برخوردار است. یکی از بخش های مهم ارائه دهنده خدمات سلامت بخش اورژانس است که به دلیل فشردگی اطلاعات، پیچیدگی مسائل و نیاز به سرعت عمل بالا در این واحدها، ارتقای آموزش ها و مهارت ها در این بخش بسیار مهم و ضروری است. لذا در مقاله حاضر نیازهای آموزشی پزشکان و پرستاران بخش اورژانس؛ بر اساس مطالعات انجام شده؛ مورد کنکاش قرار گرفته است. روش کار: این پژوهش مبتنی بر یک مرور نظام‌مند می باشد که ارزیابی کیفیت مقاله ها با استفاده از چک لیست استاندارد STROBE، صورت گرفته است. مطالعات اولیۀ انجام شده، از طریق مقاله هایی که در زمینه ارتقای آموزشی طب اورژانس و تربیت حرفه مندان بخش اورژانس و فوریت های پزشکی؛ در پایگاه‌های اطلاعاتی فارسی زبان؛ SID ،Iranmedex ،Magiran و پایگاه‌های انگلیسی زبان؛ Science Direct، PubMed، ProQuest،Cochrane Library،Embase  ،Scopus  و موتور جستجوگر Google Scholar در بازه زمانی سالهای 2010 تا 2022 منتشر شده است، انجام گرفت. کلید واژه‌های فارسی؛ اورژانس، فوریت های پزشکی، آموزش، آموزش مداوم، نیازهای آموزشی، مهارت های مورد نیاز و عبارات مرتبط با اورژانس به صورت ترکیب واژگان  و لغات انگلیسی Emergency, Education, Continuing Education, Educational Needs, Needs Assessment با کمک روش های جستجوی بولین و عملگرهای And و OR مورد توجه بوده است. یافته ها: در این مطالعه مرور سیستماتیک نیازهای آموزشی حرفه مندان بخش اورژانس بررسی گردید که پس از جستجو در پایگاه های اطلاعاتی با کلیدواژه های متناسب، 21 مقاله که شرایط لازم را بر اساس معیارهای ورود داشتند، آنالیز شد. از میان مطالعه های مورد بررسی، بیشترین تعداد مطالعات استخراج شده در آمریکا(9مقاله) و ایران(8مقاله) انجام شده است. روش تحقیق بکار رفته در 18 مقاله، توصیفی-مقطعی بود و روشهای دلفی، مطالعه کیفی با انجام مصاحبه و تحلیل محتوا نیز بین مطالعات وجود داشت. 9 پژوهش در حوزه های اختصاصی و مابقی به طور کلی به نیاز سنجی پرداخته بودند. به لحاظ جمعیت هدف نیز پرستاران، پزشکان، دانشجویان و کارورزان، دستیاران، اعضای هیات علمی، کارکنان و مدیران؛ در این مطالعات، مشارکت داشته اند. نتیجه گیری: آنالیز نتایج مطالعات از نیاز آموزشی به مهارتهای لازم در زمینه تشخیص صحیح و سریع، آموزش های لازم برای انجام اقدامات درمانی فوری، ارائه صحیح و استاندارد خدمات مراقبتی، مدیریت شرایط و موقعیت های بحرانی و مهارت های ارتباطی؛ حکایت دارد. اگرچه در طول یک دهه گذشته محققان پژوهش در آموزش تلاش زیادی برای شناسایی نیازهای آموزشی بخش اورژانس داشته اند با این حال به نظر می رسد علیرغم مطالعات بسیار بر روی بخش اورژانس، مطالعات نیازسنجی از انسجام لازم برای ارائه راهبردهای آموزشی کارآمد برخوردار نیست

Homocysteine, Cobalamin and Folate Status and their Relations to Neurocognitive and Psychological Markers in Elderly in Northeastern of Iran

Objective(s): Incidence of neurocognitive and psychological disorders may be related to serum homocystein (Hcy), cobalamin (vitamin B12 ) and folate levels in old people. The aim of this study was to assess the relation between Hcy, cobalamin, folate and neurocognitive and/or psychological disorders in the elderly.   Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 280 subjects with ≥ 65 years old, were evaluated. The subjects were selected from 12 regions of Mashhad, Iran, over March to October 2009. After blood sampling, data were collected by questionnaire, face to face interview and performing neurocognitive and psychological tests. The sera of 250 persons were analyzed for cobalamin and folate by RIA method. Amongst the aforementioned samples, 78 cases with cobalamin Results: Amongst the people, 126 (45%) were male and 154 (55%) were female. The prevalence of hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) was 59.5% and 37.1% in male and female respectively (P -value =0.049). Hcy inversely correlated to cobalamin (r=-0.282, P=0.014) and to folate (r=-0.203, P=0.014). Hcy, cobalamin and folate correlations to neurocognitive and psychological impairments were not statically significant. Conclusion: Hyper Hcy or low cobalamin and folate in the elderly, are prevalent but their relationships with neurocognitive and psychological impairments is controversial. If these relationships had been confirmed, performing a single serum Hcy or cobalamin test would have been enough to diagnose and prevent neurocognitive impairments and inversely, neurocognitive-psychological sign and symptoms could have meant probable tissue vitamin deficiencies. However methods of assessing neurocognitive and psychological markers with validity and reliability of clinical and laboratory tests for finding aforementioned relationships should be revised