Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Suspension trauma (also known as "harness-induced pathology" or "orthostatic shock while suspended") is the development of presyncopal symptoms and loss of consciousness if the human body is held motionless in a vertical position for a period of time. It has been described in experiments of personal fall protection, and has been implicated in causes of death in mountaineering accidents, but it seems neither to be widely known about nor to have been presented to the medical profession. This article highlights the potential existence of suspension trauma and suggests that more robust medical research using modern harnesses and healthy volunteers would be beneficial to assess whether this is purely a theoretical risk.
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Subarachnoid haemorrhage can be a massively debilitating condition with long-term repercussions. The "classic" presentation of sudden-onset severe headache normally raises suspicions. ⋯ We report on a 52-year-old man who presented with a 1-day history of progressively worsening right-sided neck pain spreading to the chest with associated symptoms of autonomic dysfunction. After initial stabilisation, the patient's Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score declined, with subsequent CT scan showing an extensive subarachnoid haemorrhage.