The American journal of emergency medicine
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Comparative Study
Comparing antihypertensive strategies in hypertensive emergencies with heart failure.
6.2 million Americans live with heart failure (HF) and are at risk for hospitalization due to hypertensive emergencies. Optimal treatment strategy for acute hypertensive heart failure remains unclear. Our study investigates what treatment modality is most effective in achieving guideline-directed blood pressure control. ⋯ Acute hypertensive heart failure was managed adequately with any treatment modality. Use of IV bolus therapy in these patients was associated with shorter ICU length of stay. Our results add to growing evidence that hypertensive emergencies may be less clinically significant than previously thought.
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Ketamine is an NMDA receptor antagonist commonly used as a dissociative anesthetic and analgesic. Though it is conventionally administered via the intravenous, intramuscular, or intranasal route, use as a compounded analgesic cream is becoming increasingly common. This is a case report of a 61-year-old man who was detained by the police for erratic driving. ⋯ His clinical presentation was consistent with ketamine toxicity, and mass spectrometry demonstrated an elevated urine ketamine concentration (32,300 ng/mL). His symptoms resolved spontaneously within a few hours and he was discharged. This is a unique case of systemic toxicity following dermal application of a ketamine pain cream in a patient with impaired skin barrier function due to pyoderma gangrenosum.