OBJECTIVES: Intravenous (IV) calcium salts are routinely recommended as a cardio-protective therapy in the emergency treatment of severe hyperkalemia. However, this recommendation is supported by a low level of evidence and is anecdotal. The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of IV Calcium (Ca) gluconate in the treatment of hyperkalemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with hyperkalemia and with the electrocardiogram (ECG) changes due to hyperkalemia over a 1 year period were included in this prospective observational study. Patients' ECGs were measured, before and after IV Ca-gluconate treatment and after normalization of potassium levels. Wilcoxon test and McNemar's test were used to compare the ECG parameters before and after Ca-gluconate therapy. RESULTS: The mean potassium value of 111 patients who met the inclusion criteria was 7.1 ± 0.6 mmol/l. In this study, a total of 243 ECG pathology related to hyperkalemia, 79 of which included main rhythm disorders, and the remaining 164 were nonrhythm disorders in ECG parameters, were analyzed. No statistically significant changes were determined in patients' nonrhythm ECG disorders with IV Ca-gluconate treatment (P = 0.125). However, nine of the 79 main rhythm disorders due to hyperkalemia improved with calcium gluconate treatment and this change was statistically significant (P < 0.004). CONCLUSION: IV Ca-gluconate therapy was found to be effective, albeit to a limited degree, in main rhythm ECG disorders due to hyperkalemia, but it was not found to be effective in nonrhythm ECG disorders due to hyperkalemia. Therefore, Ca-gluconate may be effective only in the main rhythm disorders due to hyperkalemia.

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Traumatic ear avulsion (TEA) may have tremendous psychological consequences if not managed properly. There are no clear guidelines on the surgical management of these injuries, especially in developing countries where microsurgical facilities are lacking. We aimed to review the literature on surgical management of TEA with the main focus on direct re-attachment (DR) so as to develop a surgical management algorithm that can be applied in the absence of microsurgical facilities. We performed an extensive review of the relevant English literature on papers indexed in PubMed describing TEA repaired with DR without restriction to a specific publication time window. A total of 28 cases in 18 publications were reviewed and analyzed. Our results indicate that in the acute setting with no available microvascular expertise, DR of auricular avulsion injuries can be better than other nonmicrosurgical techniques in generating good esthetic results, especially in incomplete auricular avulsion and small segment avulsion. The operative approach depends on the clinical setting. DR of the auricular avulsion injuries is an accepted approach. It produces good cosmetic outcomes while preserving the auricular area for future reconstruction in case of re-attachment failure.

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OBJECTIVES: Calcium administration during cardiac arrest is limited in some circumstances, mainly due to lack of consistent evidence. This study aims to investigate whether calcium therapy administered during cardiac arrest at the Emergency Department is associated with good outcomes, including the probability of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), survival to hospital admission, survival to hospital discharge, and favorable neurological outcome at discharge. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 599 consecutive adult cardiac arrest events between 2016 and 2018. The primary outcome was the ROSC rate. Secondary outcomes included survival to hospital admission, survival to hospital discharge, and favorable neurologic outcome at hospital discharge. Multivariable logistic regression with inverse probability of treatment weighting was analyzed to examine the association between calcium administration and outcomes. RESULTS: Of 599 events, calcium was administered in 72 (12%) cases. The use of calcium during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after adjusting for confounding factors was not associated with any better outcomes, including ROSC (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.24–1.17), survival to hospital admission (aOR 1.07, 95% CI 0.47–2.41), survival to hospital discharge (aOR 1.93, 95% CI 0.43–8.56), and favorable neurological outcome (aOR 6.60, 95% CI 0.72–60.74). Besides, calcium use in traumatic cardiac arrest patients was associated with unfavorable outcomes, including ROSC (aOR 0.02, 95% CI 0.00–0.09) and survival to hospital admission (aOR 0.16, 95% CI 0.03–0.84). CONCLUSION: The use of calcium during an adult cardiac arrest was not associated with better outcomes. Although associations drawn from this study did not indicate the causality, given calcium during CPR was linked to poorer outcomes in traumatic cardiac arrest patients, including ROSC and survival to hospital admission.

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OBJECTIVE: Mechanical chest compression (CC) devices are frequently used in in-hospital and out-of-hospital settings. In this study, mechanical and manual CC in in-hospital cardiac arrest was compared in terms of survival. METHODS: Adult patients who were admitted to the emergency department (ED) for 2 years period and had cardiac arrest in the ED were included in this retrospective, observational study. Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), 7-day and 30-day survival and hospital discharge data were compared between the two groups of patients who underwent manual CC and those who had mechanical CC with the Lund University Cardiac Assist System-2 device. RESULTS: Although the rate of ROSC in the mechanical CC group was lower than in the manual CC group, this difference was not statistically significant (41.7% vs. 50.4%; P = 0.133). The 7-day survival rate was found to be statistically significantly higher in the mechanical CC group (19.4% vs. 8.9%; P = 0.012). The 30-day survival rate was also found to be high in the mechanical CC group, but this difference was not statistically significant (10.6% vs. 7.3%; P = 0.339). CONCLUSION: In the light of these results, we can say that the use of piston-based mechanical CC devices in ED may be beneficial. More reliable results can be obtained with a prospective study to be performed in the ED.

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OBJECTIVES: Disasters and mass casualty incidents (MCIs) that cause substantial mortality and morbidity have been increasing worldwide. The emergency department (ED) services manage MCIs by optimizing triage and providing health care with required resources. The present study attempted to describe the epidemiological characteristics and outcomes of MCIs presenting to the ED. METHODS: The present retrospective observational study was conducted at the ED of a tertiary care hospital on patients of MCI for 4 years from 2017 to 2021. The data were extracted from the ED disaster records and other paper-based patient records. Information on patient demography, date and time of arrival, mode of transport, method of arrival (direct or referral), type and mechanism of MCI, ED management, and outcome were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed using R, version 4.1.0. RESULTS: Analysis of 21 MCIs was conducted. Road traffic accidents (RTAs) were the predominant cause of MCIs. The majority of MCI victims, except for those of blast injuries, were men. The victims in medical emergencies were significantly younger than those in other MCI groups (P < 0.001). The majority of patients were brought to ED through ambulance services (n = 120 [47.1%]), followed by private vehicles (n = 112 [44.2%]). Most of the MCI victims (n = 143 [56.2%]) were brought to the ED during evening hours (4 pm–8 pm). The majority of victims belonged to the “Red” triage category (n = 110 [43.3%]). The injury severity score was significantly higher (P = 0.014) in the disaster group than in other trauma MCI groups (20 vs. 17). Autorickshaw occupants were the most common victims of mass casualty RTAs (n = 38 [40%]). Suturing (n = 97 [50%]) and dressing (n = 167 [88%]) were the most common ED procedures required by the victims of trauma MCIs. Of the total, 167 (66%) patients were discharged from the ED, 47 (19%) patients were admitted to wards, 13 (5%) patients were admitted to intensive care units, and 24 (9%) patients got referred to other centers. In addition, two patients died in the ED during treatment, whereas one patient was brought dead. CONCLUSIONS: RTAs dominate the MCIs and are affecting the young producative male population. The present study exhibited the severity of the cases in MCIs and their impact in the health-care setting, therefore signifying the importance of standardized MCI management protocols.

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Coronavirus disease-2019 continues to have a serious impact in countries with the effect of new variant viruses emerging with mutations. While the effectiveness and protection of the vaccine have been determined all over the world, some vaccine-related side effects can be detected in the form of cases. In our case, the patient was admitted to the emergency department of our hospital with complaints of weakness and progressive rash on his legs. Diffuse petechiae purpura on the legs of the patient was observed and complete blood count revealed thrombocytopenia. Peripheral blood smear supported the blood count test results with thrombocytopenia, secondary causes of thrombocytopenia were excluded, and the patient was diagnosed with vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia.

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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the accuracy levels of the emergency physicians (EPs) managing the patient in the interpretation of the urgent-emergent pathological findings in thoracic and abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans. METHODS: The EPs interpreted the CT scans of patients who visited the emergency department because of nontraumatic causes. Then, a radiology instructor made final assessments of these CT scans. Based on the interpretation of the radiology instructor, the false-positive rate, false-negative rate, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and kappa coefficient (κ) of the EPs' interpretations of the CT scans were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 268 thoracics and 185 abdominal CT scans were assessed in our study. The overall sensitivity and specificity of the EPs' interpretation of the thoracic CT scans were 90% and 89%, respectively, whereas the abdominal CT interpretation was 88% and 86%, respectively. There was excellent concordance between the EPs and the radiology instructor with regard to the diagnoses of pneumothorax, pulmonary embolism, pleural effusion, parenchymal pathology, and masses (κ: 0.90, κ: 0.87, κ: 0.71, κ: 0.79, and κ: 0.91, respectively) and to the diagnoses of intraabdominal free fluid, intraabdominal free gas, aortic pathology, splenic pathology, gallbladder pathology, mesenteric artery embolism, appendicitis, gynecological pathology, and renal pathology (κ: 1, κ: 0.92, κ: 0.96, κ: 0.88, κ: 0.80, κ: 0.79, κ: 0.89, κ: 0.88, and κ: 0.82, respectively). CONCLUSION: The EPs are successful in the interpretation of the urgent-emergent pathological findings in thoracic and abdominal CT scans.

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Cardiac tamponade is a cardiac emergency that requires urgent intervention. Cardiac tamponade due to penetrating cardiac injury requires urgent thoracotomy. As per the guidelines, pericardiocentesis can be done as a bridge to thoracotomy. However, no clear guidelines exist on the management of cardiac tamponade due to blunt cardiac injury. In the following case report, we propose a management plan for blunt cardiac injury in the emergency department. In the following case report, we describe a patient with a road traffic accident who had a blunt cardiac injury and had cardiac tamponade for whom we did not do emergency pericardiocentesis. Instead, we managed the patient with iv fluids and blood transfusion and the patient was taken up for immediate emergency thoracotomy. Not all cardiac tamponade requires pericardiocentesis. Cardiac tamponade due to injury to the low-pressure system can be best managed by initial resuscitation followed by emergency thoracotomy. We also propose a management plan for managing a patient with cardiac tamponade due to blunt cardiac injury when the injury can be visible in the low-pressure chambers.

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Effusive pneumothorax can be hemopneumothorax, pyopneumothorax, or hydropneumothorax depending on the type of fluid compartment within the pleural cavity. Hydropneumothorax is the abnormal collection of air and serous fluid within the pleural cavity. Here, we report a case of a 34-year-old male who presented to the emergency department with cough and breathlessness. We did bedside point-of-care ultrasound-assisted clinical evaluation as the patient was vitally unstable, which showed “hydro point” and “defective barcode sign,” which suggested hydropneumothorax. We present these clinical evaluation details, imaging/sonographic findings, and patient management in this case report.

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Rectus sheath hematoma (RSH) is a life-threatening condition. Its pathology lies behind its unique anatomy. Critically ill COVID-19 patients are managed in the emergency department for longer periods while awaiting critical care admission. Therefore, more complex procedures such as prone positioning are performed in the emergency department to ensure patient care continues. We report this case of RSH in an intubated critically ill COVID-19 patient requiring prone position. During her stay in the Emergency Department Acute Care Unit, she developed anemia, uremia, and worsening hypoxia. Emergency contrast-enhanced computed tomography leads to our diagnosis of RSH. She was treated with a conservative approach and blood transfusion. We would like to highlight this case for its diagnostic complexity since this ventilated patient required both biochemical and radiological markers to diagnose RSH in combination with high suspicion levels. RSH must be considered in patients with risk factors such as prone position and anticoagulant usage. Last, a holistic approach to critically ill patients will not only benefit patients but also health-care profession. The direction of care should be decided based on the patient's condition, imaging, and hospital resources.

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