ABSTRACT
Introduction: Emergency medicine (EM) is a new specialty in Uganda. There is no current formal EM undergraduate curriculum. The Mbarara University of Science and Technology Emergency Medicine Interest Group (MUST-EMIG) was established to bridge this gap. This survey was done to assess the contributions of MUST-EMIG. Objectives of the study were to: discover students' reasons for joining the MUST-EMIG; assess whether interest in learning emergency medicine was affected by participation in MUST-EMIG; evaluate plans to pursue emergency medicine as a specialty before and after joining MUST-EMIG; determine whether MUST-EMIG affected students' perception of emergency medicine's importance in Uganda's health care system; and elicit feedback from students on their experience as members of MUST-EMIG. Methods: The MUST-EMIG executive developed a membership survey which was reviewed by MUST-EMIG's faculty advisor for suitability. Members of MUST-EMIG were voluntarily asked to participate in the online survey. Results of the survey were summarized using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Results: 49 responses (46.7% response rate) were collected and analyzed. Participants included 29 (59.2%) male and 20 (40.8%) female medical students. The majority of participants were fourth year students 22 (44.9%). 44 (89.8%) students joined MUST-EMIG to learn how to handle medical emergencies, and expressed a desire of at least 6/10 to learn more about emergency medicine after utilizing opportunities provided by MUST-EMIG. Overall, students had a good experience with MUST-EMIG. They reported that our interest group had provided them networking, unique learning, and leadership opportunities. Having an EMIG significantly affects students' desire to pursue a career in emergency medicine and their perception of the relevance of emergency medicine. Discussion: An EMIG helps develop interest of medical students in emergency medicine. Students passionate about emergency medicine need to be supported to help them preserve and further develop this passion.
ABSTRACT
Background: Hypoxia is a common presentation in the Emergency Department (ED) worldwide. It affects 9-12% of hospitalized adults in Sub-Saharan Africa. Timely diagnosis of the multiple causes such as pneumonia, heart failure among others is challenging. Chest X-Ray (CXR), one of the most utilized imaging modalities has many limitations, and the gold standard (Computed Tomography scan) is inaccessible. Point of care ultrasound (PoCUS) is more available and increasingly being used, however little is known of its performance in resource limited EDs. The study aimed to assess the diagnostic performance of PoCUS compared with CXR in identifying the causes of hypoxia in the medical ED. Methods: 49 adults presenting with hypoxia (SP02 ≤ 88%) in the medical ED were evaluated. Ultrasound of the lungs and heart (PoCUS) was done, then CXR obtained. Lung ultrasound (LUS) was compared with CXR (first reference standard). Chest X-Ray and PoCUS were each compared to the physician diagnosis (second reference standard) to determine agreement using an acceptable disagreement cut-off of 15%. Results: 31% more abnormalities were identified by LUS than CXR. Lung ultrasound findings agreed with CXR in 86% of the participants with moderate reliability (ĸ=0.75). There was no significant difference between the actual findings of the two tests (X2= 2, p 0.1). Using the second reference, 82% of the CXRs were similar with weak reliability (ĸ=0.5) compared to 98% of PoCUS findings with strong reliability (ĸ=0.9). Compared to PoCUS, CXRs significantly differed from the physician diagnosis (X2= 0.85, p 0.38 vs X2= 8.5, p 0.004 respectively). Conclusion: Overall, PoCUS was not inferior to CXR when compared to final physician diagnosis in identifying causes of hypoxia, and LUS and CXR had comparable performance. Significantly more abnormalities were identified on PoCUS and it demonstrated better agreement and strong reliability with the physician diagnosis than CXR. We recommend PoCUS use in patients with hypoxia attending resource limited in- and pre-hospital settings.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Although the global suicide deaths due to intentional pesticide poisoning disproportionately occur in low income countries (LIC) and lower to middle income Countries (LMIC), there is a scarcity of reports on emergency centre (EC) mortality and its predictors in these settings. Our goal was to determine the case fatality rate of Acute Pesticide Poisoning (APP) presenting to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH) EC and find out whether initial triage category predicted mortality in these patients. Methods: This was a prospective observational longitudinal study. Patients presenting with APP were enrolled using data collection forms. Data collected included initial triage category, vital signs, demographics, initial assessment, and management. They were followed up for 1 week. Results: Out of 66 patients admitted with suspected pesticide poisoning, 61 had complete follow up during the study period. However, only 58 patients had the pesticide ingested confirmed. These were predominantly males 48 (73%) and farmers 28(42%) with a median age of 23 years (IQR 18-31). Majority of patients 58 (88%) were suicide attempts and had ingested mostly organophosphates 23 (35%), amitraz 11(17%), zinc phosphide 7(10%), and aluminium phosphide 4(6%). The median time from ingestion to presentation was 4hours (IQR 2.5-8). More than half 41(62%) of the patients were in the red triage category (ESI-1). The overall case fatality rate of APP was 18%. Majority of patients who died were in the red triage category but the initial triage category was not significantly associated with mortality (p=0.381). Male gender (p=0.018), time of admission (p= 0.037), and triage vitals including hypothermia (p=0.020), hypoxia (p= 0.004), hypotension (p= 0.031), and tachypnea (p= 0.031) were significantly associated with mortality. Discussion: Although initial triage category was a poor predictor, triage vital signs, gender, and time of admission were significantly associated with mortality in patients with APP.
