Comparison of rocuronium priming vs. standard rapid sequence intubation technique in emergency department patients requiring intubation.

OBJECTIVE: In our study, we aimed to compare the effect of standard rapid sequence intubation protocol and the application of rocuronium priming technique on the procedure time and hemodynamic profile. METHODS: Patients who applied to the emergency department and needed rapid sequence intubation were included in our study, which we conducted with a randomized controlled design. Randomization in the study was made according to the order of arrival of the cases. Rapid sequence intubation was performed in the standard group. In the priming group, 10% of the rocuronium dose was administered approximately 3 min before the induction agent. Intubation time, amount of drug used, vital signs, and end-tidal CO2 level before and after intubation used to confirm intubation were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 52 patients were included in the study, of which 26 patients were included in the standard group and 26 patients in the priming group. While intubation time was 121.2±21.9 s in the standard group, it was calculated as 68.4±11.6 s in the priming group (p<0.001). While the mean arterial pressure was 58.3±26.6 mmHg in the standard group after intubation, it was 80.6±21.1 mmHg in the priming group (p=0.002). CONCLUSION: It was observed that priming with rocuronium shortened the intubation time and preserved the hemodynamic profile better. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT05343702.

Assessment of the number of admissions for road traffic collisions and severity of injury in daylight saving time and permanent daylight saving time periods.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Permanent daylight saving time has been implemented in Turkey since 2016. The present study determines the characteristics of road traffic collisions in the short-term, trauma severity, and whether permanent daylight saving time has an impact on these parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Drivers admitted because of road traffic collisions to a tertiary care university hospital emergency service two weeks before and after the transition to wintertime in 2014 and 2015 and summertime in 2015 and 2016 as well as those admitted two weeks before and after the same period with permanent daylight saving time in 2016 and 2017 wintertime and 2017 and 2018 summertime were included in the study. Trauma severity was measured using the Injury Severity Score. RESULTS: The study analysed the data of 710 patients. There was no statistically significant difference was found between admissions in the summertime and permanent daylight saving time periods in terms of gender, time of admission, week of admission, Injury Severity Score and outcome (P > .05 for all values). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we examined the short-term effects of daylight saving time on road traffic collisions, and demonstrated that it had no impact on the number or time of admission, trauma severity and patient outcomes. More comprehensive studies covering longer periods can be performed across the country.

Which hematological markers have predictive value as early indicators of severe COVID-19 cases in the emergency department?

Background/aim: Coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a pandemic infectious disease that causes morbidity and mortality. As a result of high mortality rate among the severe COVID-19 patients, the early detection of the disease stage and early effective interventions are very important in reducing mortality. Hence, it is important to differentiate severe and nonsevere cases from each other. To date, there are no proven diagnostic or prognostic parameters that can be used in this manner. Due to the expensive and not easily accessible tests that are performed for COVID-19, researchers are investigating some parameters that can be easily used. In some recent studies, hematological parameters have been evaluated to see if they can be used as predictive parameters. Materials and methods: In the current study, almost all hematological parameters were used, including the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, platelet/lymphocyte ratio, monocyte/lymphocyte ratio, mean platelet volume to lymphocyte ratio, mean platelet volume to platelet ratio, plateletcrit, and D-dimer/fibrinogen ratio, neutrophil/lymphocyte/platelet scoring system, and systemic immune-inflammation index. A total of 750 patients, who were admitted to Ankara City Hospital due to COVID-19, were evaluated in this study. The patients were classified into 2 groups according to their diagnosis (confirmed or probable) and into 2 groups according to the stage of the disease (nonsevere or severe). Results: The values of the combinations of inflammatory markers and other hematological parameters in all of the patients with severe COVID-19 were calculated, and the predicted values of these parameters were compared. According to results of the study, nearly all of the hematological parameters could be used as potential diagnostic biomarkers for subsequent analysis, because the area under the curve (AUC) was higher than 0.50, especially for the DFR and NLR, which had the highest AUC among the parameters. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that, the parameters those enhanced from complete blood count, which is a simple laboratory test, can help to identify and classify COVID-19 patients into non-severe to severe groups.

Dynamic Thiol/Disulphide Homeostasis in Acute Urticaria.

BACKGROUND: Urticaria is an unknown, sudden, and itchy skin disease that is recognized with redness, swelling, and is sometimes seen with angioedema. It is classified as acute or chronic, depending on the duration of symptoms. Thiols in plasma are powerful antioxidants that physiologically eliminate free radicals. The mostly and rapidly affected proteins are thiols that contain the sulfhydryl group. In the present study, the thiol/disulfide homeostasis was investigated as a brand new indicator of oxidative stress in patients who had acute urticaria and presented to the emergency department. OBJECTIVE: In the present study, the thiol/disulfide homeostasis, ischemia-modified albumin (IMA), and and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (N/L ratio) were investigated in the etiopathogenesis of acute urticaria. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A total of 37 patients and 40 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Thiol/disulfide homeostasis (TDH) [total thiol-native thiol/disulfide changes] was measured in both groups (patient group and control group) using a brand novel method developed by Erel and Neselioglu. Half of the difference between total thiol and native thiol concentrations gives the amount of disulfide bond. RESULTS: Total thiol and native thiol levels in blood were found to be low. The levels of total thiol (P = 0.218) and native thiol (P = 0,001) were significantly lower in patients with acute urticaria than in the control group. At the same time, the level of disulfide was significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (P = <0.001). The level of IMA was higher in the patient group than in the control group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: While total thiol and native thiol are low in acute urticaria, the levels of disulfide and IMA are high.

Dynamic thiol/disulfide homeostasis as oxidative stress marker in diabetic ketoacidosis

Background/aim: The aim of present study was to investigate the dynamic thiol/disulfide homeostasis as oxidative stress marker in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Materials and methods: A total of 77 participants consisting of 32 patients with DKA and 45 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Thiol/disulfide homeostasis (TDH) [total thiol-native thiol/disulfide changes] were measured in both groups (patient group and control group) using a brand new method developed by Erel and Neselioglu. Half of the difference between total thiol and native thiol concentrations gives the amount of disulfide bond. Results: Total thiol, native thiol, and disulfide levels in blood were found to be low. The levels of total thiol (P < 0.001) and native thiol (P < 0.001 ) were significantly lower in patients with DKA than in the control group. At the same time, the level of disulfide was nonsignificantly lower in the patient group than the control group (P = 0.388). The level of IMA was higher in the patient group than in the control group (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The total thiol, native thiol, and disulfide levels in DKA decrease in favor of oxidative stress.

Comparison of thiol/disulphide homeostasis with modified Alvarado and RIPASA scores in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to investigate the role of thiol/disulfide homeostasis parameters in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and to determine whether it is beneficial to use these parameters in combination with the modified Alvarado and RIPASA scoring systems. METHODS: This study was prospectively carried out on 265 patients who presented to the emergency department with the complaint of right lower quadrant pain between 01.07.2017 and 31.12.2017, and met the inclusion criteria of this study. Oxidative stress markers were evaluated on two groups. The relationship between these parameters and the modified Alvarado and RIPASA scoring systems was analyzed. RESULTS: The mean levels of disulfide, disulfide/native thiol and disulfide/total thiol were found to be significantly higher in the appendicitis group (p<0.001). The mean levels of native thiol, total thiol and native thiol/total thiol were significantly lower in the same group (p<0.001, 0.001 and 0.007, respectively). The mean levels of disulfide, disulfide/native thiol and disulfide/total thiol were recorded to be significantly higher in the high-risk group according to the results of RIPASA (p=0.016, 0.003 and 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: Thiol/disulfide homeostasis parameters can be used with the modified Alvarado and RIPASA scoring systems in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis.