Der Anaesthesist
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The mortality of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is still above 50% despite continuous progress in intensive care medicine. Recent therapy regimens such as the extra corporeal life support (ECLS), permissive hypercarbia, high-frequency ventilation techniques and inhaled nitric oxide (NO) are being applied. All of the above techniques are aimed at different parts of the problems caused by ARDS. ⋯ Although the pulmonary status of the patient improved, the patient died due to therapy-resistant hemodynamic failure. CONCLUSION. It will take further studies to judge whether the success of this new ventilation strategy is reproducible and if the improvement of the oxygenation is more pronounced when adding inhaled NO to SHFJV than when each technique is applied separately.
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Many articles in the literature document the fact that postoperative pain therapy has not improved for decades despite new insights into pain physiology, the availability of powerful analgesics and the development of new techniques. This project was set up to develop practical, effective, safe, and easy to run acute pain therapy. METHODS. ⋯ The difficulties in realizing such a concept are described. The importance of thorough teaching is underlined in a nurse-based system. However, it is not yet clear whether this pain treatment has resulted in reduced morbidity, reduced mortality and a shortened hospital stay of the patients.
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For cardio-pulmonary resuscitation there are standardized treatment concepts, but there have been few prospective investigations examining the efficacy of prehospital advanced trauma life support and its effect on the outcome in patients with severe head injury and multiple trauma treated within the German emergency system. The results of this study underline the importance of intensive prehospital treatment and highlight some problems that should be taken into account in future in the training of emergency physicians. METHODS. ⋯ These results demonstrate the importance of advanced trauma life support and show emphatically that the so-called scoop-and-run strategy should be abandoned when resources are available for extended preclinical emergency treatment. On the other hand, we detected some problem areas in the prehospital treatment of trauma victims, such as positioning, immobilization and drug therapy with analgesics and sedatives. These findings allow us to pinpoint specific points that should be stressed in the training of emergency physicians and paramedics.
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Gastrointestinal integrity with intact function are of main importance in critically ill patients, and not only as a route of nutritional support. Drugs used for long-term sedation can lead to disordered gastrointestinal motility. In this study we compared the influence of different combinations of analgesics and sedatives on the intestinal function in mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients. ⋯ Therefore, we recommend piritramide or ketamine for analgesia. The basic sedating drug is midazolam, in special cases combined with or replaced by propofol. The position of GABA in long-term sedation is not yet clear, but a lack of side effects on the gastrointestinal tract became evident in this stud
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We present a potentially fatal case of acute methaqualone (M) poisoning with very low serum concentrations of M but extremely high levels of its metabolite, 2-methyl-3-(2-hydroxymethyl-phenyl)-4 (3H)-chinazoline (Met-1). A 23-year-old man was admitted to the intensive care unit 2 days after ingestion of 4-5 g M in an suicidal attempt. On admission he was somnolent and poorly responsive to painful stimuli. Physical examination revealed a heart rate of 95 bpm, a blood pressure of 125/65 mmHg, and a normal body temperature. His chest was clear to auscultation, respirations were shallow, and the skin was cyanotic. The electrocardiogram was unremarkable. The chest radiograph showed a normal heart size without pulmonary infiltrates or venous congestion. The pupils were dilated but reactive to light. The neurologic examination was further remarkable for increased limb reflexes, myoclonia, and positive pyramidal signs. During the next 2 days the patient became comatose and developed respiratory insufficiency due to non-cardiogenic pulmonary oedema, which was confirmed by chest radiograph and haemodynamic investigations by means of right heart catheterisation. He required mechanical ventilation for 6 days. Finally, he recovered completely and was discharged in good condition. ⋯ The presented case is the first report of a life-threatening intoxication after M ingestion primarily caused by Met-1. It supports the significance of this metabolite for the toxic effects of the drug. A toxicological screening test based on ELISA proved helpful due to its cross-reactivity with metabolites. In cases similar to ours, resin haemoperfusion may be indicated to remove the metabolites despite low detectable concentrations of the parent substance in the serum.