Post-traumatic stress disorder after terrorist attack in healthcare professionals

INTRODUCTION: On the date of 15 July 2016 a terrorist organization launched a terrorist attack using helicopters and heavy combat weapons in the city centers of Istanbul and Ankara simultaneously. Numerous civilian were hurt and many of them lost their lives during the attacks. Terrorism is a form of combat designed to cause the highest psychological influence on the masses. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common psychological disorders after such disasters. The aim of this study is to determine the associated risk factors and PTSD rates in healthcare professionals who were on call during the 15 July 2016 terrorist attacks. METHOD: Since the hospital is in a neighbouring the street to where terror attacks occurred, all healthcare professionals ≥ 18 years of age who were on duty that night in the Dr. Ridvan Ege Training and Research Hospital and were auditory or visual witnesses of the event were included in the study as the first group while healthcare professionals who work in the same hospital but were not on duty that night were included as the control group. RESULTS: The mean post-traumatic diagnostic scale stress score of the control group was 11.87. The mean post-traumatic diagnostic scale stress score of the Group 1 was 21.91. There was a significant difference between the groups in terms of posttraumatic diagnostic scale stress score (p < 0.05). While the healthcare professionals on duty on July 15, 2016 (Group 1) had moderate-severe (21.91 ± 5.11) stress disorder, the healthcare professionals who were not at the hospital on July 15, 2016 (Control Group) had moderate stress disorder (11.87 ± 6.86). CONCLUSION: Our country is at risk from the fact that such attacks may be experienced again because of its unique conditions. The results of our work support the data on the high level of exposure to PTSD when exposed to a terrorist attack. For this reason, the identification of the characteristics of pre-traumatic health individuals at risk is useful in planning the presentation of preventive and curative health services. At the same time, there is a need for longer-term work and wider samples to reveal the psychological consequences of such attacks

A bedside ultrasound technique for fluid therapy monitoring in severe hypovolemia: Tissue Doppler imaging of the right ventricle

WOS: 000418743600006PubMed ID: 29951288Fluid therapy is one of the main issues for hemodynamic resuscitation. Tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) of the right ventricle (RV) with bedside ultrasound (BUS) technique is a new dynamic method to identify fluid responsiveness in patients with hypotension. Here, we present the case of a hypotensive patient monitored with TDI measurements of RV. A 75-year-old male patient was admitted to the emergency department (ED) with the complaint of diarrhea. He was in severe hypovolemia, with hypotension, tachycardia, and tachypnea. His laboratory results were normal. BUS was performed on the patient by the ED physician. The velocity of the excursion of the tricuspid valve measured at presentation was 14.47 cm/s and, together with collapsed inferior vena cava (IVC), this finding led to the decision to begin fluid therapy immediately. The patient underwent 2 L of fluid therapy with 0.9% NaCl in a 2-h period. Control BUS after fluid therapy revealed decreased TDI velocity of tricuspid annulus to 11.81 cm/s and dilated IVC not collapsing sufficiently with respiration. The patient received his maintenance therapy after admission to the internal medicine department and was discharged from the service after 3 days. TDI in fluid responsiveness may find a clinical role in the future by the clinical studies

Effectiveness of Bedside Lung Ultrasound for Clinical Follow-Up of Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax Patients Treated With Tube Thoracostomy

Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) is a common cause of presentation to emergency departments and subsequent hospitalization. Patients with large PSP are treated with tube thoracostomy (TT) and followed up with x-rays. In this study, we investigated the efficiency of bedside ultrasound and compared it with x-ray imaging for the clinical follow-up of PSP patients treated with TT

Re: Outcomes of Patients with Cardiac Arrest and Effect of Blood Glucose Concentration Reply

WOS: 00043177520000

Pseudopneumothorax: Emphysema Case Mimicking Pneumothorax

Bedside lung ultrasound (LUS) is generally emergency rooms for the patients suspected to have lung pathology. LUS is especially important for quick diagnosis and fast treatment, especially in unstable patients. Pneumothorax is the condition of air entering between pleural plaques and lung being separated from the thoracic wall. Typically, there is a low amount of lubricating fluid between visceral pleura covering the lung and parietal pleura covering the inner face of the thoracic wall. Emphysema is the abnormal widening of air sacs distal to the terminal bronchioles with the destruction of alveolar walls without fibrosis, and it is one of the obstructive lung diseases. Cases, where emphysema is confused with pneumothorax, were also defined rarely in the literature. We wanted to create awareness on the place of ultrasound on pneumothorax diagnosis by sharing the emphysema case imitating pneumothorax in LUS seen rather rare in literature

Comparison of end-tidal carbon dioxide and point-of-care echocardiography for fluid response at the bedside

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to compare cardiac output, echocardiographic pulmonary velocity-time integral, and end-tidal carbon dioxide values before and after the passive leg raising maneuver in healthy volunteers. Methods: The Ethical Commission approved the study. A total of 36 volunteers were included after signed informed consent in our study. After 12 h of fasting, vital signs, cardiac output, pulmonary velocity-time integral, and end-tidal carbon dioxide were measured when the participants were lying supine. Then, participants' legs were elevated to 45 degrees passively, and all measurements were repeated. Pulmonary velocity-time integral was obtained in parasternal short-axis view with the aid of pulse Doppler. Pulmonary root measurements were recorded. Echocardiographic stroke volume and cardiac output were calculated. The differences between values of cardiac output, pulmonary velocity-time integral, and end-tidal carbon dioxide before and after passive leg raising were statistically compared. The level of significance was accepted as p < 0.05. Results: Significant differences were found between pre- and post-passive leg raising values of these three measurements. The effect of passive leg raising on pulmonary velocity-time integral measurements was greater. The change in end-tidal carbon dioxide was not correlated with either cardiac output or pulmonary velocity-time integral alteration. Conclusion: Our results showed that measurement of pulmonary velocity-time integral changes after passive leg raising is a more useful bedside method to predict fluid responsiveness than measurement of end-tidal carbon dioxide and cardiac output alteration