Is it possible to reduce intra-hospital transport time for computed tomography evaluation in critically ill cases using the Easy Tube Arrange Device?

OBJECTIVE: Patients are often transported within the hospital, especially in cases of critical illness for which computed tomography (CT) is performed. Since increased transport time increases the risks of complications, reducing transport time is important for patient safety. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of our newly invented device, the Easy Tube Arrange Device (ETAD), to reduce transport time for CT evaluation in cases of critical illness. METHODS: This prospective randomized control study included 60 volunteers. Each participant arranged five or six intravenous fluid lines, monitoring lines (noninvasive blood pressure, electrocardiography, central venous pressure, arterial catheter), and therapeutic equipment (O2 supply device, Foley catheter) on a Resusci Anne mannequin. We measured transport time for the CT evaluation by using conventional and ETAD method. RESULTS: The median transport time for CT evaluation was 488.50 seconds (95% confidence interval [CI], 462.75 to 514.75) and, 503.50 seconds (95% CI, 489.50 to 526.75) with 5 and 6 fluid lines using the conventional method and 364.50 seconds (95% CI, 335.00 to 388.75), and 363.50 seconds (95% CI, 331.75 to 377.75) with ETAD (all P < 0.001). The time differences were 131.50 (95% CI, 89.25 to 174.50) and 148.00 (95% CI, 116.00 to 177.75) (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The transport time for CT evaluation was reduced using the ETAD, which would be expected to reduce the complications that may occur during transport in cases of critical illness.

Is the Modified AIMS65 Score Suitable for Distinguishing the Low Risk Group and the High Risk Group for Patients with Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding?

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to increase the performance of the AIMS65 score in the prediction of outcomes in upper gastrointestinal bleeding by modifying the AIMS65 score. METHODS: Data were collected retrospectively between January 2015 and June 2015. A total of 212 adult patients, who visited the emergency department with an upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage during this period were included for analysis. High risk patients were defined as follows: those who needed an endoscopic or surgical hemostasis, suffered rebleeding, hospitalized in an intensive care unit, and those who were deceased within 30 days or required a blood transfusion. The seven parameters of the modified AIMS65 score were as follows: Albumin levels, international normalized ratio (prothrombin time), altered mental status, systolic blood pressure, age>65 years, hemoglobin levels, and heart rate. RESULTS: The high-risk group was comprised of 163 patients, while the low risk group was comprised of 49 patients. The areas under the curve for AIMS65 and modified AIMS65 scores were 0.727 (95% confidence interval, 0.662-0.786) and 0.847 (95% confidence interval, 0.791-0.892), respectively, which were significantly different (p<0.001). The AIMS65 score had a sensitivity of 53.0% and a specificity of 78.5% at a score of 0. The modified AIMS65 score had a sensitivity of 22.4% and a specificity of 99.3% at a score of 0. For the modified AIMS65 score of 3 or lower, the sensitivity was 97.9% with a specificity of 21.4%. CONCLUSION: The modified AIMS65 score was effective in distinguishing between the low-risk group and the high-risk group among patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Effect of Hospitalization Decision by Emergency Physicians on Patient's Emergency Department Length of Stay: Before and After Study using Historical Control

PURPOSE: This study analyzed the effects of the hospitalization decisions made by emergency physicians (EP) on the emergency department length of stay (ED-LOS). METHODS: From March 2016, the hospitalization decisions of six internal medicine departments were made by EP, which has been implemented gradually since 2015. Through a retrospective electronic record review, the ED-LOS between EP hospitalization decision departments (group A) and others (group B) was analyzed and the ED-LOS before and after the hospitalization decision method change was compared (2014 vs. 2016). RESULTS: Compared to 2014, in 2016, the ED-LOS in departments that hospitalization decision made by EP was reduced significantly (median with interquartile range; 478.0 minutes [319.0 to 900.5 minutes] vs. 259.0 minutes [177.0 to 384.0 minutes]; p < 0.001). In addition, the ED-LOS in Group A was reduced more than in Group B (219.0 minutes (45.8%) vs. 30.0 minutes (10.2%). CONCLUSION: ED-LOS can be reduced by the EP hospitalization decisions.

Reduction of intra-hospital transport time using the easy tube arrange device

OBJECTIVE: Critically ill patients sometimes require transport to another location. Longer intra-hospital transport time increases the risk of hemodynamic instability and associated complications. Therefore, reducing intra-hospital transport time is critical. Our objective was to evaluate whether or not a new device the easy tube arrange device (ETAD) has the potential to reduce intra-hospital transport time of critically ill patients. METHODS: We enrolled volunteers for this prospective randomized controlled study. Each participant arranged four, five, and six fluid tubings, monitoring lines, and therapeutic equipment on a cardiopulmonary resuscitation training mannequin (Resusci Anne). The time required to arrange the fluid tubings for intra-hospital transport using two different methods was evaluated. RESULTS: The median time to arrange four, five, and six fluid tubings was 86.00 (76.50 to 98.50), 96.00 (86.00 to 113.00), and 115.50 (93.00 to 130.75) seconds, respectively, using the conventional method and 60.50 (52.50 to 72.75), 69.00 (57.75 to 80.80), and 72.50 (64.75 to 90.50) seconds using the ETAD (all P<0.001). The total duration (for preparing the basic setting and organizing before and after the transport) was 280.00 (268.75 to 293.00), 315.50 (304.75 to 330.75), and 338.00 (319.50 to 360.25) seconds for four, five, and six fluid tubings, respectively, using the conventional method and 274.50 (261.75 to 289.25), 288.00 (271.75 to 298.25), and 301.00 (284.50 to 310.75) seconds, respectively, using the new method (P=0.024, P<0.001, and P<0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: The ETAD was convenient to use, reduced the time to arrange medical tubings, and is expected to assist medical staff during intra-hospital transport.

Video Recording Analysis of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Quality in a Wide Regional Emergency Medical Center

PURPOSE: Maintaining the quality of CPR is connected with improvement in survival rates, but CPR performance in the field does not always fulfill the guidelines. Therefore, many ways to obtain the quality of CPR have been studied and tried, including CPR education, manikin training, mechanical CPR, audio-visible feedback system, and video-recording system, et cetera. The aim of our study is to determine how CPR procedures are actually performed on the scene by real-time video recording. METHODS: Digital video of CPR cases was obtained from April 2014 to March 2015 in a wide regional emergency medical center. The video was analyzed by two physicians in the emergency department. We evaluated quality of major CPR variables including compression rate, hands-off time, chest compression fraction, ventilation rate, et cetera. RESULTS: A total of 52 cases were analyzed. Mean chest compression rate was 122.43+/-10.74/min, and mean ventilation rate was 7.47+/-2.58/min. Performance of adequate compression-to-ventilation ratio before insertion of advanced airway was 37%. Mean recognition to compression time was 31.31+/-27.32 seconds, and proportion of chest compression interruption time exceeding 10 seconds was 7.6%. Mean chest compression fraction was 91.12+/- 0.4%. In five out of 25 cases of defibrillation, chest compression was interrupted during charging, resulting in prolongation of chest compression interruption time. CONCLUSION: In this study, overall performance met the qualification of AHA guidelines. However, poor compliance was observed for some parameters. Continuous education and feedback are required in order to make an improvement in these areas.

Direction of the J-Tip of the Guidewire to Decrease the Malposition Rate of an Internal Jugular Vein Catheter / 대한중환자의학회지

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that the direction of the J-tip of the guidewire during insertion into the internal jugular vein (IJV) might determine its ultimate location. METHODS: In this study, 300 patients between the ages of 18 and 99 years who required central venous catheterization via IJV in the emergency department enrolled for randomization. IVJ catheterization was successful in 285 of 300 patients. An independent operator randomly prefixed the direction of the J-tip of the guidewire to one of three directions. Based on the direction of the J-tip, patients were allocated into three groups: the J-tip medial-directed group (Group A), the lateral-directed group (Group B), or the downward-directed group (Group C). Postoperative chest radiography was performed on all patients in order to visualize the location of the catheter tip. A catheter is considered malpositioned if it is not located in the superior vena cava or right atrium. RESULTS: Of the total malpositioned catheter tips (8 of 285; 2.8%), the majority (5 of 8; 62.5%) entered the contralateral subclavian vein, 2 (25.0%) were complicated by looping, and 1 (12.5%) entered the ipsilateral subclavian vein. According to the direction of the J-tip of the guidewire, the incidence of malpositioning of the catheter tip was 4 of 92 in Group A (4.3%), 4 of 96 in Group B (4.2%), and there were no malpositions in Group C. There were no significant differences among the three groups (p = 0.114). CONCLUSIONS: The direction of the J-tip of the guidewire had no statistically significant effect on incidence of malpositioned tips.

Comparison of Tidal Volume with Conventional Resuscitator and Newly-designed Resuscitator during Chest Compression

PURPOSE: A conventional resuscitator is used as first-line equipment during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). However, resuscitation providers have difficulty in achieving adequate tidal volume during ventilation by conventional resuscitator (CR). This study was conducted to evaluate the usefulness of the newly-designed resuscitator (NR) during chest compression. METHODS: Fifty nine individuals participated in this study. NR was produced by insertion of a silicon implant in the CR. The NR was set at a tidal volume of 500 mL. Subjects completed four procedures: CR without compression, NR without compression, CR with compression, and NR with compression. Individual characteristics were obtained and the results were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: The mean volumes for the CR without compression were 482.03 mL, NR without compression 513.71 mL, CR with compression 461.93 mL, and NR with compression 496.12 mL. When the two types of resuscitators were used during chest compression, success rate of CR of 64.4% was observed, and success rate of NR was 94.9% (p<0.01). The physical aspects including hand size, volume, and grip power showed no correlation with the volume that we delivered. CONCLUSION: The NR can approximate the exact tidal volume and may be useful in preventing possible complications from inappropriately delivered tidal volumes.

Direction of the J-Tip of the Guidewire to Decrease the Malposition Rate of an Internal Jugular Vein Catheter / 대한구급학회지

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that the direction of the J-tip of the guidewire during insertion into the internal jugular vein (IJV) might determine its ultimate location. METHODS: In this study, 300 patients between the ages of 18 and 99 years who required central venous catheterization via IJV in the emergency department enrolled for randomization. IVJ catheterization was successful in 285 of 300 patients. An independent operator randomly prefixed the direction of the J-tip of the guidewire to one of three directions. Based on the direction of the J-tip, patients were allocated into three groups: the J-tip medial-directed group (Group A), the lateral-directed group (Group B), or the downward-directed group (Group C). Postoperative chest radiography was performed on all patients in order to visualize the location of the catheter tip. A catheter is considered malpositioned if it is not located in the superior vena cava or right atrium. RESULTS: Of the total malpositioned catheter tips (8 of 285; 2.8%), the majority (5 of 8; 62.5%) entered the contralateral subclavian vein, 2 (25.0%) were complicated by looping, and 1 (12.5%) entered the ipsilateral subclavian vein. According to the direction of the J-tip of the guidewire, the incidence of malpositioning of the catheter tip was 4 of 92 in Group A (4.3%), 4 of 96 in Group B (4.2%), and there were no malpositions in Group C. There were no significant differences among the three groups (p = 0.114). CONCLUSIONS: The direction of the J-tip of the guidewire had no statistically significant effect on incidence of malpositioned tips.

Availability of the Peripheral Perfusion Index for Monitoring of Hemodynamic Stability in the Emergency Department

PURPOSE: In hemodynamically unstable patients, tissue perfusion is decreased and various means of continuous observation are required. However, prior methods for observing hemodynamic instability are invasive and/or difficult for continual observation. The present study evaluated the usefulness of the perfusion index (PI) in monitoring hemodynamically unstable patients in the emergency department. METHODS: From December, 2009 to April, 2010, patients admitted to our hospital emergency department with signs of hemodynamic instability were studied. Vital signs and stroke volume index (SVI) and cardiac index (CI) were measured, and PI was continuously monitored by a Radical-7 pulse oximeter (Masimo, USA). Each variable was measured 1 hour before and after treatment, and treatment methods included fluid therapy and vasoconstrictors, according to the patient condition. Status on changes and correlation between variables following treatment were confirmed through the Wilcoxon rank test and Spearman correlation test, respectively. The standard level of significance was p<0.05. RESULTS: Of the 26 patients, 19 were male (73.1%), with an average age of 68.54+/-14.32 years. Significant changes in each variable 1 hour before and after treatment were mean arterial pressure 53.51+/-8.29mmHg / 74.68+/-12.95 mmHg (p<0.001), SVI 26.70+/-14.04/34.27+/-13.56(p<0.001), CI 2.12+/-1.02/3.12+/-1.53(p<0.001), and PI 1.23+/-1.00/1.77+/-1.32(p<0.001). Variations of heart rate (R=-0.430, p=0.032) and SVI (R=0.432, p=0.031) were correlated to the variation of PI (dPI). CONCLUSION: PI may be useful in monitoring hemodynamically unstable patients in the ER.

Availability of the Peripheral Perfusion Index for Monitoring of Hemodynamic Stability in the Emergency Department

PURPOSE: In hemodynamically unstable patients, tissue perfusion is decreased and various means of continuous observation are required. However, prior methods for observing hemodynamic instability are invasive and/or difficult for continual observation. The present study evaluated the usefulness of the perfusion index (PI) in monitoring hemodynamically unstable patients in the emergency department. METHODS: From December, 2009 to April, 2010, patients admitted to our hospital emergency department with signs of hemodynamic instability were studied. Vital signs and stroke volume index (SVI) and cardiac index (CI) were measured, and PI was continuously monitored by a Radical-7 pulse oximeter (Masimo, USA). Each variable was measured 1 hour before and after treatment, and treatment methods included fluid therapy and vasoconstrictors, according to the patient condition. Status on changes and correlation between variables following treatment were confirmed through the Wilcoxon rank test and Spearman correlation test, respectively. The standard level of significance was p<0.05. RESULTS: Of the 26 patients, 19 were male (73.1%), with an average age of 68.54+/-14.32 years. Significant changes in each variable 1 hour before and after treatment were mean arterial pressure 53.51+/-8.29mmHg / 74.68+/-12.95 mmHg (p<0.001), SVI 26.70+/-14.04/34.27+/-13.56(p<0.001), CI 2.12+/-1.02/3.12+/-1.53(p<0.001), and PI 1.23+/-1.00/1.77+/-1.32(p<0.001). Variations of heart rate (R=-0.430, p=0.032) and SVI (R=0.432, p=0.031) were correlated to the variation of PI (dPI). CONCLUSION: PI may be useful in monitoring hemodynamically unstable patients in the ER.

Comparison of Tidal Volume with Conventional and Newly Designed Manual Resuscitator Ventilation devices?

PURPOSE: A manual resuscitator is often used during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Artificial ventilation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation is important to the victim's survival. But, manual resuscitators can not achieve delivery of optimal tidal volumes during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Hence, we suggest a newly designed manual resuscitator that achieves optimal tidal volumes. METHODS: This study was done on sixty one participants using a conventional manual resuscitator and a newly designed resuscitator. Each participant squeezed the resuscitators ten times. We measured tidal volumes and participant variables including age, sex, type of emergency medical practitioner, hand height, hand grip strength, and hand volume. RESULTS: For the 61 patients, mean tidal volume with the conventional resuscitator was 501.67+/-143.95 ml and with the newly designed resuscitator it was 527.14+/-23.77 ml (p=0.156). Accuracy of the conventional resuscitator was 19.7%; for the newly designed resuscitator it was 91.8%. Tidal volume did not correlate with age, sex, type of emergency medical practitioner, hand height, hand grip strength, or hand volume. CONCLUSION: Our newly designed resuscitator was better able to ventilate optimal tidal volumes than a conventional resuscitator. Further study with the newly designed resuscitator should be done in the clinical setting.

The Accuracy of a Simple Radiologic Study for Diagnosing Intra-articular Fractures of the Distal Radius

PURPOSE: To determine the accuracy of a simple radiologic images as a diagnostic tool for intra-articular fractures of the distal radius (IAF). METHODS: This study proceeded prospectively from April 2008 to December 2009. We let 25 ERs (emergency residents) interpret the radiologic images of 45 patients who had injuries of their wrists and presented to a hospital. We used surgical findings or multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) to confirm the final diagnosis of enrolled patients. Finally, we evaluated the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of simple radiologic images of IAF. We also compared test performance characteristics between the four grades of the ERs (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years) via Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. We considered differences to be significant, if p<0.05 RESULTS: Of 45 patients, 40 (88.9%) had fractures of the distal radius; of the 40, 25 (62.5%) had IAF. There were no differences in sensitivity, specificity, or accuracy between the four grades of the ERs (p=0.86, 0.76, 0.49). The sensitivity of simple radiologic images for diagnosing IAF was 0.69; specificity was 0.77; accuracy was 0.72. CONCLUSION: In this study, we found that simple radiologic images as the primary diagnostic tool for intra-articular fractures of the distal radius were not completely adequate. Therefore, ERs should carefully consider using MDCT imaging to diagnose patients who suffer from wrist pain.

Correlation Between Sonographic Inferior Vena Cava/Aorta Diameter Index and Central Venous Pressure

PURPOSE: Body fluid status of patients in an emergency room environment is a very important parameter during clinical evaluation. In this study, we wanted to know the relationship between the diameter of the inferior vena cava and the diameter of the (IVC/Ao index) and central venous pressure (CVP) in hemodynamically unstable patients. METHODS: This study was done prospectively in an emergency medical center of a hospital from January to August, 2009. We compared the diameter of the IVC, the diameter of inferior vena cava/the body surface area index (IVC/BSA index), the IVC/Ao index, and other variables. Before and after hydration of patients with a systolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg and who had a central venous catheter in place. Then, we calculated the correlation coefficient for DeltaCVP, DeltaIVC/Ao index, and other indexes. RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients were enrolled in the study. The mean IVC diameter before hydration was 14.3+/-2.7 mm; it was 15.6+/-2.7 mm after hydration (p<0.01). The IVC/BSA index before hydration was 8.75+/-1.72 and 9.55+/-1.79 after hydration (p<0.01). The IVC/Ao index before hydration was 1.08+/-0.23; it was 1.16+/-0.25 after hydration (p<0.01). The correlation coefficient for DeltaCVP and DeltaIVC was 0.37 (p<0.01); for DeltaCVP vs. the DeltaIVC/BSA index it was 0.37 (p<0.01); for the DeltaIVC/Ao index it was 0.27 (p=0.04). CONCLUSION: CVP has a higher correlation to IVC diameter and to IVC/BSA index than to the IVC/Ao index. Hence, we should estimate the IVC/Ao index and use that estimate along with other indexes to evaluate body fluid status when dealing with hemodynamically unstable patients.