Annals of emergency medicine
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Paradoxical vocal fold motion disorder, also commonly termed vocal cord dysfunction, is a poorly understood cause of acute upper airway obstruction. Patients with paradoxical vocal fold motion frequently present to the emergency department (ED) with acute respiratory distress and stridor. ⋯ Although long-term management of paradoxical vocal fold motion is well described, there is a paucity of information about acute evaluation and management. This article aims to summarize the ED presentation and management of paradoxical vocal fold motion.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of Etomidate and Ketamine for Induction During Rapid Sequence Intubation of Adult Trauma Patients.
Induction doses of etomidate during rapid sequence intubation cause transient adrenal dysfunction, but its clinical significance on trauma patients is uncertain. Ketamine has emerged as an alternative for rapid sequence intubation induction. Among adult trauma patients intubated in the emergency department, we compare clinical outcomes among those induced with etomidate and ketamine. ⋯ In this analysis spanning an institutional protocol switch from etomidate to ketamine as the standard rapid sequence intubation induction agent for adult trauma patients, patient-centered outcomes were similar for patients who received etomidate and ketamine.
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We study the effect of a nationwide dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) program on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes by arrest location (public and private settings). ⋯ Bystander CPR regardless of dispatcher assistance was associated with improved neurologic recovery after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases in private settings, bystander CPR was associated with improved neurologic recovery only when dispatcher assistance was provided.
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N-methyl-5-(2 aminopropyl)benzofuran (5-MAPB) is a novel psychoactive benzofuran, created by N-methylation of 5-(2-aminopropyl)benzofuran (5-APB), which shares structural features with methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). To our knowledge, no case of 5-MAPB-related toxicity has been published in the scientific literature. ⋯ Signs and symptoms resolved substantially within 14 hours with aggressive symptomatic treatment, including sedation with benzodiazepines, external cooling, analgesia and sedation with fentanyl-propofol, and treatment with urapidil, an α-receptor-blocking agent. 5-MAPB showed first-order elimination kinetics with a half-life of 6.5 hours, comparable to the half-life of MDMA. According to the chemical structure, this case report, and users' Web reports, 5-MAPB appears to have an acute toxicity profile similar to that of 5-APB and MDMA, with marked vasoconstrictor effect.