Scand J Trauma Resus
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Nov 2024
Characteristics of helicopter hoist operations with intubated patients: a retrospective analysis of a Norwegian physician staffed SAR helicopter service.
Timely medical management and evacuation of critically ill or injured patients from austere environments or maritime vessels is often achieved by helicopter hoist operations. When indicated, intubation is performed onsite to restore and sustain patient physiology and to facilitate safe transport. We aimed to describe the characteristics of helicopter hoist operations (HHOs) with intubated patients in a physician staffed SAR helicopter service and to identify learning points for future missions. ⋯ HHOs with intubated patients are rare but increasingly occurring events in our service. Owing to the infrequency, complexity and risk factors involved, these operations should be governed by specific operating procedures and trained regularly to be performed safely. HHOs with intubated patients represents a favourable alternative in situations where terrestrial transport is associated with significant time delay or additional risk to the patient or the rescuers.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Nov 2024
Randomized Controlled TrialA randomized clinical trial of intranasal dexmedetomidine versus inhaled nitrous oxide for procedural sedation and analgesia in children.
Procedural sedation and analgesia is an important part of pediatric emergency care, safe and clinically useful alternatives for adequate management are necessary. The objective of this clinical trial was to evaluate the non-inferiority of intranasal dexmedetomidine to nitrous oxide with respect to analgesia for a painful procedure in children 3-15 years of age. ⋯ The results of this trial support that intranasal dexmedetomidine is not inferior to 50% nitrous oxide in providing analgesia for a painful procedure in children 3-15 years of age and can be considered as an alternative to 50% nitrous oxide for procedural sedation and analgesia.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Nov 2024
The NACA score predicts mortality in polytrauma patients before hospital admission: a registry-based study.
The early assessment of the severity of polytrauma patients is key for their optimal management. The aim of this study was to investigate the discriminative performance of the NACA score in a large dataset by stratifying the severity of polytraumatized patients in correlation to injury severity score (ISS), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), and mortality. ⋯ This study provides valuable evidence supporting the effectiveness of the NACA score in assessing the severity of polytrauma patients in both the pre-ER and ER condition. Considering the statistical significant correlation with the GCS and with the ISS, NACA is a valid score for assessing polytrauma patients.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Nov 2024
Observational StudyEmergency neurosurgery for traumatic brain injury by general surgeons at local hospitals in Sweden: a viable option when time is brain.
Timing of surgical evacuation of mass lesions in traumatic brain injury (TBI) is crucial. However, due to geographical variations, transportation time to the nearest neurosurgical department may be long. To save time, general surgeons at a local hospital may perform the operation, despite more limited experience in neurosurgical techniques. This study aimed to determine whether patient outcomes differed between those who had undergone emergency neurosurgery at local hospitals by general surgeons vs. at university hospitals by neurosurgeons. ⋯ Although a slightly greater proportion of patients who underwent emergency neurosurgery at local hospitals died, there was no difference in the rate of favourable outcome. Thus, in patients with impending brain herniation, when time is of the essence, evacuation of traumatic intracranial bleeding by general surgeons at local hospitals remains a highly viable option.
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Septic shock (SS) is a potential life-threatening condition in which an early identification and immediate therapy stand out as the main cornerstones to improve survival chance; in this context, emergency medical services (EMS) become key to reduce the time between diagnosis and management in the ICU or emergency department. However, guidelines for the prehospital management of SS patients remains unclear, and literature around this topic is scant. Our scoping review was conducted following the PICO framework and a search strategy related to septic shock management and diagnosis in prehospital settings was executed in PubMed, Scopus and Virtual Health Library; articles in English and Spanish from 2015, onwards, were screened by the authors and selected by mutual consensus. Our aim is to analyze the prehospital management strategies of SS reported in the literature, and to showcase and summarize the screening tools, demographic factors, clinical manifestations and prognostic factors of SS in the prehospital setting.