Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
-
The case is presented of epiglottal and pre-epiglottal oedema secondary to infection of the pharyngolaryngeal area. The purpose of this report was to assess the utility of ultrasonography to image epiglottal and pre-epiglottal oedema. Bedside emergency department ultrasonography could be a valuable tool to detect pathological enlargement of the epiglottis. Ultrasonography may be used in unstable patients for diagnosing epiglottitis because it is cheap, rapid, non-invasive and does not aggravate the patient's symptoms.
-
Trauma is still the leading cause of mortality in the first four decades of life. Despite numerous reports on how trauma care could be improved in the UK, treatment has been shown to be inconsistent and of poor quality. Trauma teams have been shown to have a positive effect on outcome. A study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of trauma teams in Scotland. ⋯ There are few trauma teams in Scottish acute hospitals. There was little enthusiasm for introducing them for a variety of reasons. Local evidence of benefit is probably needed before their adoption becomes widespread.