Characteristics and Costs of Ladder Fall Injuries: A Report from a Single Emergency Center in Okayama

We sought to identify the incidence, injury patterns, and financial burden of ladder fall injuries to provide a reference for reinforcing guidelines on the prevention of such injuries. We enrolled the patients who were injured in a ladder-related fall and required intensive care between April 2012 and March 2014 at Okayama University Hospital, a tertiary care hospital in Okayama City:9 patients injured in 7 stepladder falls and 2 straight ladder falls. The median patient age was 69 years, and 8 were males. Six falls occurred in non-occupational settings. Head injuries predominated, and the injury severity score ranged from 2 to 35 (mean＝21±12). At the time of discharge from the intensive care unit, one patient had died and 5 patients had some neurological disabilities. The case fatality rate was 11%. The total cost of care during the review period was ￥16,705,794, with a mean cost of ￥1,856,199 per patient. Ladder fall injuries are associated with a high rate of neurological sequelae and pose a financial burden on the health insurance system. A prevention education campaign targeting at older-aged males in non-occupational settings may be a worthwhile health service investment in this community

Radiation in an emergency situation: attempting to respect the patient's beliefs as reported by a minor

Background　Each individual's unique health-related beliefs can greatly impact the patient-clinician relationship. When there is a conflict between the patient's preferences and recommended medical care, it can create a serious ethical dilemma, especially in an emergency setting, and dramatically alter this important relationship. Case presentation　A 56-year-old man, who remained comatose after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, was rushed to our hospital. The patient was scheduled for emergency coronary angiography when his adolescent daughter reported that she and her father held sincere beliefs against radiation exposure. We were concerned that she did not fully understand the potential consequences if her father did not receive the recommended treatment. A physician provided her with in depth information regarding the risks and benefits of the treatment. While we did not want to disregard her statement, we opted to save the patient's life due to concerns about the validity of her report. Conclusions　Variations in beliefs regarding medical care force clinicians to incorporate patient beliefs into medical practice. However, an emergency may require a completely different approach. When faced with a patient in a life-threatening condition and unconscious, we should take action to prioritize saving their life, unless we are highly certain about the validity of their advance directives

Indirect Calorimetry Measurement of Energy Expenditure Related to Body Position Changes in Healthy Adults

Early mobilization is advocated to prevent intensive care unit-acquired physical weakness, but the patient's workload and its changes in response to body position changes have not been established. We used indirect calorimetry to determine the energy expenditure (EE) in response to body position changes, and we assessed EE's correlation with respiratory parameters in healthy volunteers: 8 males and 8 females, mean age 23.4±1.3 years. The subjects started in the resting supine position followed by a 30° head-up position, a 60° head-up position, an upright sitting position, a standing position, and the resting supine position. EE was determined in real time by indirect calorimetry monitoring the subject’s respiratory rate, tidal volume (VT), and minute volume (MV). The highest values were observed immediately after the subjects transitioned from standing to supine, and this was significantly higher compared to the original supine position (1,450±285 vs. 2,004±519 kcal/day, p<0.01). Moderate correlations were observed between VT and EE (r=0.609, p<0.001) and between MV and EE (r=0.576, p<0.001). Increasing VT or MV indicates an increasing patient workload during mobilization. Monitoring these parameters may contribute to safe rehabilitation. Further studies should assess EE in critically ill patients

Therapeutic strategies for ischemia reperfusion injury in emergency medicine

Ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury occurs when blood supply, perfusion, and concomitant reoxygenation is restored to an organ or area following an initial poor blood supply after a critical time period. Ischemia reperfusion injury contributes to mortality and morbidity in many pathological conditions in emergency medicine clinical practice, including trauma, ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, and post-cardiac arrest syndrome. The process of IR is multifactorial, and its pathogenesis involves several mechanisms. Reactive oxygen species are considered key molecules in reperfusion injury due to their potent oxidizing and reducing effects that directly damage cellular membranes by lipid peroxidation. In general, IR injury to an individual organ causes various pro-inflammatory mediators to be released, which could then induce inflammation in remote organs, thereby possibly advancing the dysfunction of multiple organs. In this review, we summarize IR injury in emergency medicine. Potential therapies include pharmacological treatment, ischemic preconditioning, and the use of medical gases or vitamin therapy, which could significantly help experts develop strategies to inhibit IR injury

Portal Venous Gas Following Ingestion of Hydrogen Peroxide Successfully Treated with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

The primary toxicity of hydrogen peroxide results from its interaction with catalase, which liberates water and oxygen. We report the case of a 14-year-old Japanese girl with portal venous gas that was caused by oxygen liberated from intentionally ingested hydrogen peroxide. Although she had a past history of atrial septal defect, recovery without cardiac or neurological sequelae was achieved using hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Emergency physicians must be aware of the danger of liberated oxygen due to hydrogen peroxide ingestion

Association between emergency medical service transport time and survival in patients with traumatic cardiac arrest: a Nationwide retrospective observational study

Background Patients with traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) are known to have poor prognoses. In 2003, the joint committee of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma proposed stopping unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) sustained for > 15 min after TCA. However, in 2013, a specific time-limit for terminating resuscitation was dropped, due to the lack of conclusive studies or data. We aimed to define the association between emergency medical services transport time and survival to demonstrate the survival curve of TCA. Methods A retrospective review of the Japan Trauma Data Bank. Inclusion criteria were age >= 16, at least one trauma with Abbreviated Injury Scale score (AIS) >= 3, and CPR performed in a prehospital setting. Exclusion criteria were burn injury, AIS score of 6 in any region, and missing data. Estimated survival rate and risk ratio for survival were analyzed according to transport time for all patients. Analysis was also performed separately on patients with sustained TCA at arrival. Results Of 292,027 patients in the database, 5336 were included in the study with 4141 sustained TCA. Their median age was 53 years (interquartile range (IQR) 36-70), and 67.2% were male. Their median Injury Severity Score was 29 (IQR 22-41), and median transport time was 11 min (IQR 6-17). Overall survival after TCA was 4.5%; however, survival of patients with sustained TCA at arrival was only 1.2%. The estimated survival rate and risk ratio for sustained TCA rapidly decreased after 15 min of transport time, with estimated survival falling below 1%. Conclusion The chances of survival for sustained TCA declined rapidly while the patient is transported with CPR support. Time should be one reasonable factor for considering termination of resuscitation in patients with sustained TCA, although clinical signs of life, and type and severity of trauma should be taken into account clinically

Early detection of interstitial pneumonia by monitoring KL-6 in a chronic hepatitis C patient undergoing pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy

A 58-year-old woman with chronic hepatitis C developed interstitial pneumonia (IP) while undergoing pegylated interferon (PEG IFN)-alpha-2a and ribavirin (RBV) therapy. Serum levels of sialylated carbohydrate antigen KL-6 (KL-6), a known marker of disease activity in fibrosing lung disorders, had been regularly measured once a month for early detection of IP, and had begun rising noticeably from 12 weeks to 540 U/mL at 33 weeks of treatment. On examination, remarkable fine crackles were detected by dorsal auscultation and bilateral ground-glass opacities and reticular shadows were depicted by computed tomography. The patient successfully recovered from her early-stage pneumonia by immediate discontinuation of therapy, which indicates that regular monitoring of serum KL-6 may be effective for avoidance of IP progression induced by PEG IFN and RBV therapy.ArticleHEPATOLOGY RESEARCH. 41(9):904-909 (2011)journal articl

Occult Sources of Bleeding in Blunt Trauma : A Narrative Review

Worldwide, hemorrhagic shock in major trauma remains a major potentially preventable cause of death. Controlling bleeding and subsequent coagulopathy is a big challenge. Immediate assessment of unidentified bleeding sources is essential in blunt trauma patients with hemorrhagic shock. Chest/pelvic X-ray in conjunction with ultrasonography have been established classically as initial diagnostic imaging modalities to identify the major sources of internal bleeding including intra-thoracic, intra-abdominal, or retroperitoneal hemorrhage related to pelvic fracture. Massive soft tissue injury, regardless of whether isolated or associated with multiple injuries, occasionally causes extensive hemorrhage and acute traumatic coagulopathy. Specific types of injuries, including soft tissue injury or retroperitoneal hemorrhage unrelated to pelvic fracture, can potentially be overlooked or be considered “occult” causes of bleeding because classical diagnostic imaging often cannot exclude such injuries. The purpose of this narrative review article is to describe “occult” or unusual sources of bleeding associated with blunt trauma