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BACKGROUND: Cardiac arrest in hospital and out-of-hospital settings is associated with high mortality rates. Therefore, a bedside test that can predict resuscitation outcomes of cardiac arrest patients is of great value. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has the potential to be used as an effective diagnostic and prognostic tool during cardiac arrest, particularly in observing the presence or absence of cardiac activity. However, it is highly susceptible to "self-fulfilling prophecy" and is associated with prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which negatively impacts the survival rates of cardiac arrest patients. As a result, the current systematic review was created to assess the role of POCUS in predicting the clinical outcomes associated with out-of-hospital and in-hospital cardiac arrests. METHODS: The search for scientific articles related to our study was done either through an electronic database search (i.e., PubMed, Medline, ScienceDirect, Embase, and Google Scholar) or manually going through the reference list of the relevant articles. A quality appraisal was also carried out with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool (QUADAS-2), and the prognostic test performance (sensitivity and sensitivity) was tabulated. RESULTS: The search criteria yielded 3984 articles related to our topic, of which only 22 were eligible for inclusion. After reviewing the literature, we noticed a wide variation in the definition of cardiac activity, and the statistical heterogeneity was high; therefore, we could not carry out meta-analyses. The tabulated clinical outcomes based on initial cardiac rhythm and definitions of cardiac activity showed highly inconsistent results. CONCLUSION: POCUS has the potential to provide valuable information on the management of cardiac arrest patients; however, it should not be used as the sole predictor for the termination of resuscitation efforts.
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Procedural sedation is essential in the ED to conduct painful procedures effectively. Ketamine and benzodiazepines/opioids are commonly used, with ketamine providing adequate analgesia and preserving airway muscle tone. However, ketamine is associated with adverse effects while benzodiazepines/opioids can lead to respiratory depression. This study compares the safety and efficacy of ketamine and midazolam/fentanyl. Two search methods were used to identify studies related to our topic, including a database search and a manual search involving screening reference lists of articles retrieved by the database search. A methodological quality appraisal was conducted on the articles suitable for inclusion using Cochrane's risk of bias tool in the Review Manager software (Review Manager (RevMan) (Computer program). Version 5.4, The Cochrane Collaboration, 2020). Moreover, pooled analysis was performed using the Review manager software. The study analyzed 1366 articles, of which seven were included for analysis. Pooled data showed that ketamine and midazolam/fentanyl had similar effects on pain scores during procedures and sedation depth measured by the University of Michigan sedation scale. However, the Modified Ramsay Sedation Score showed significantly more profound sedation in the ketamine group. The only significant adverse events were vomiting and nausea, which had a higher incidence in the ketamine group. Our data suggest that ketamine is as effective as the midazolam/fentanyl combination for procedural sedation but is associated with higher incidences of adverse events. Therefore, midazolam/fentanyl can be recommended for procedural sedation in the ED. However, it should be provided in the presence of a physician comfortable with airway management due to high incidences of oxygen desaturation.
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Background: Acute aortic dissection (AAD) is a life-threatening medical condition with high early fatality. Therefore, a prompt and precise diagnosis, which can be achieved through invasive and non-invasive techniques is vital. Echocardiography, unlike MRI and CT, is accessible in emergency units and bedside-compatible. The recommended echocardiographic techniques for AAD are transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography (TTE and TOE). Therefore, our review compares their diagnostic roles in AAD. Methods: Studies relevant to our topic were attained through a database search and manual scrutiny of references lists of articles obtained from the electronic databases. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool (QUADAS-2) has been used for quality assessment. All quantitative analyses were performed using either STATA 16 or Comprehensive Meta-Analyst software. Results: The search strategy yielded 1,798 articles, of which only 11 were eligible for inclusion. Our subgroup analysis showed that conventional TTE had a sensitivity and specificity of 85.35% and 84.51% for the diagnosis of Stanford type A AAD and was 45.89% sensitive and 87.05% specific for the diagnosis of type B AAD. However, the subgroup analysis shows that contrast-enhancement of TTE results in a sensitivity and specificity of 93.30% and 97.60% for diagnosis of type A AAD, and 83.60% and 94.50% for diagnosis of type B AAD, respectively. On the other hand, conventional TOE was 93.64% sensitive and 95.50% specific for the diagnosis of type A AAD, 99.80% sensitive and 99.87% specific for the diagnosis of type B AAD. Moreover, our analyses show that TTE has pooled false negative and positive rates of 28.6% and 18.6%, while TOE has shown false negative and positive rates of 2.4% and 4.3%, respectively. Conclusion: TOE is the more favorable diagnostic tool for AAD diagnosis than TTE. However, it cannot be used as a stand-alone diagnostic tool since misdiagnosis cases are being reported. Contrast-enhanced TTE can also diagnose AAD since it provides similar results to conventional TOE.
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Since the 1940s, Macintosh laryngoscopy (Mac laryngoscopy) has been the gold standard for tracheal intubation, offering visualization of the glottis entrance. However, recent years have witnessed the emergence of various video laryngoscopy (VL) techniques. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to assess the clinical outcomes of VL versus Mac laryngoscopy in an elective setting. We comprehensively searched five medical databases - PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. All the databases were last searched in January 2023. We only included studies with full texts comparing VL to Mac laryngoscopy clinical outcomes. Studies were excluded if they were non-full text or non-randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and did not compare VL to Mac laryngoscopy. We extracted data comprising author names, publication year, key study outcomes (first-attempt intubation success rate, Cormack and Lehane grade, hypoxia incidence, and glottis view quality), video laryngoscope types, and sample sizes of both VL and Mac laryngoscopy groups. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to assess the risk of bias in the included studies. Statistical analysis was performed using Review Manager (RevMan, version 5.4; Cochrane Collaboration, London, UK), presenting results as odds ratio (OR) and risk ratios (RR) at a 95% confidence interval (CI). This facilitated the identification of relevant and appropriate studies of our analysis. The search produced 19 studies that were included in this review. The evaluated sample size ranges from 40 to 802, with 3,238 participants. The rate of success at the first attempt in the use of VL was 1,558/1,890 (82.43%), while the success rate for Mac laryngoscopy was 982/1,348 (72.85%; OR: 1.98 (1.25, 3.12)) at a 95% confidence interval. Pooled analysis indicated no significant difference for hypoxia concerning the type of device used RR (random effects: 1.02; 95% CI: 0.80-1.29). A video laryngoscope had a higher likelihood of visualizing the vocal cords categorized as category 1 in the Cormack-Lehane system of classification (RR: 2.45; 95% CI: 1.43-4.21). Additionally, considerably better glottis views were attained during VL than Mac laryngoscopy (OR: 1.77; 95% CI: 1.19-2.62). In elective tracheal intubation, VL demonstrates superior first-attempt success rates, offers improved glottis visualization, and reduces instances where the glottis cannot be viewed compared to Mac laryngoscopy.
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COVID-19 vaccines were safe and efficacious in clinical trials. A two-dose regimen of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine confers no less than 95% protection against COVID-19 with an adequate safety profile. To date, no reports have been made in the literature regarding the onset of acute viral pericarditis after vaccination with the Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccine. But on the other hand, pericarditis is reported to occur in rare instances of COVID-19 infection, and this may be attributed to the pro-inflammatory effects of the spike protein. In this article, we describe the case of an elderly male patient with a known case of hypothyroidism who presented to our emergency department with fever, chills, and dry cough for ten days after the third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Although we cannot mention a direct effect, it is essential to note a potential adverse reaction to vaccine administration following the expression of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-induced from the vaccine's mRNA.
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A 50-year-old Asian male presented to the emergency department with sudden onset of bilateral lower limb weakness preceded by lower back pain, which developed after lifting a moderately heavyweight. As the pain increased in intensity, the patient was transferred by ambulance to the emergency department, and en-route lost complete motor (0/5 power and absent reflexes) and sensory control over his lower limbs. The patient's medical history was significant for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and coronary artery disease with percutaneous coronary intervention in 2018 and 2019. He was taking dual antiplatelets (aspirin and clopidogrel) along with other medications. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed findings suggestive of acute and extensive extradural hematoma extending from the foramen magnum to the level of the fifth lumbar vertebra (L5), exerting severe mass effect on the cord with evidence of edema, most severe at the level from 7th to 10th dorsal vertebrae (D7-D10) vertebral level. The clinical features and the radiological findings confirmed the diagnosis of acute cauda equina syndrome. This review is intended to promote awareness about a possible clinical correlation between the use of dual antiplatelet therapy as a risk factor of spinal hematomas and the cauda equina syndrome.