Journal of emergencies, trauma, and shock
-
Major advances in the field of pediatric cardiac arrest (CA) were made during the last decade, starting with the publication of pediatric Utstein guidelines, the 2005 recommendations by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation, and culminating in multicenter collaborations. The epidemiology and pathophysiology of in-hospital and out-of-hospital CA are now well described. ⋯ We reviewed landmark articles related to pediatric CA published during the last decade. We present the current knowledge of epidemiology, pathophysiology and treatment of CA relevant to pre-hospital and acute care health practitioners.
-
Prehospital pediatric cardiac arrest is a rare event compared with adult cardiac arrest. Despite the recent advancements in postresuscitation care improving the outcome of adult patients, similar evidence is lacking in pediatric victims of cardiac arrest. In this brief article, the current data on pediatric cardiac arrest occurring in the prehospital setting are reviewed. ⋯ The neurologic outcome of survivors is good in 24-31% of patients. Current evidence is insufficient to strongly support or refute the use of mild therapeutic hypothermia during the postresuscitation phase in pediatric patients. The application of a goal-directed treatment protocol for pediatric cardiac arrest and postresuscitation syndrome needs to be evaluated.
-
Defibrillation is the only effective treatment for ventricular fibrillation (VF). Optimal methods for defibrillation in children are derived and extrapolated from adult data. VF occurs as the initial rhythm in 8-20% of pediatric cardiac arrests. ⋯ In 2005, the European Resuscitation Council recommended 4 J/kg as the initial dose, without escalation for subsequent shocks. Automated external defibrillators are increasingly used for pediatric cardiac arrest, and available reports indicate high success rates. Additional research on pediatric defibrillation is critical in order to be able to provide an equivalent standard of care for children in cardiac arrest and improve outcomes.
-
J Emerg Trauma Shock · Jul 2010
Reviewing the blood ordering schedule for elective orthopedic surgeries at a level one trauma care center.
Patients undergoing elective orthopedic surgeries often incur excess blood loss necessitating transfusion. The preoperative placement of blood requests frequently overshoots the actual need resulting in unnecessary crossmatching. ⋯ A total of 487 patients with a median age of 37±17 years (mean ± standard deviation) were evaluated. One thousand three hundred and seventy-seven units of blood were crossmatched and only 564 units were transfused to 260 patients. Fifty-nine percent of the units crossmatched were not transfused. Six of the 12 elective procedures had a C:T ratio higher than 2.5. Ten of the 12 procedures (83.3%) had a low transfusion index (TI < 0.5). The calculated red blood cell units were less than 0.5 in 5 of the 12 elective procedures, and hence we recommend a group and save policy for these procedures. Blood ordering schedule based on patient and surgical variables would provide an efficient way of blood utilization and management of resources.
-
J Emerg Trauma Shock · Jul 2010
Developing a clinically relevant classification to predict mortality in severe leptospirosis.
Severe leptospirosis requires critical care and has a high mortality. We reviewed the literature to identify factors predicting mortality, and such predictors were classified according to the predisposition, infection, response, organ dysfunction (PIRO) concept, which is a risk stratification model used in severe sepsis. ⋯ Further research is needed to identify the role of infecting serovars, clinical signs, inflammatory markers, cytokines and evidence of hepatic dysfunction as prognostic indicators. It is hoped that this paper will be an initiative to create a staging system for severity of leptospirosis based on the PIRO model with an added component for treatment-related predictors.