Vascular air embolism is a rare but potentially fatal event. It may occur in a variety of procedures and surgeries but is most often associated as an iatrogenic complication of central line catheter insertion. This article reviews the incidence, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of this phenomenon.

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Fat embolism syndrome (FES) is an ill-defined clinical entity that arises from the systemic manifestations of fat emboli within the microcirculation. Embolized fat within capillary beds cause direct tissue damage as well as induce a systemic inflammatory response resulting in pulmonary, cutaneous, neurological, and retinal symptoms. This is most commonly seen following orthopedic trauma; however, patients with many clinical conditions including bone marrow transplant, pancreatitis, and following liposuction. No definitive diagnostic criteria or tests have been developed, making the diagnosis of FES difficult. While treatment for FES is largely supportive, early operative fixation of long bone fractures decreases the likelihood of a patient developing FES.

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Surgical and intensive care patients are at a heightened risk for arterial embolization due to pre-existing conditions such as age, hypercoagulability, cardiac abnormalities and atherosclerotic disease. Most arterial emboli are clots that originate in the heart and travel to distant vascular beds where they cause arterial occlusion, ischemia, and potentially infarction.Other emboli form on the surface of eroded arterial plaque or within its lipid core. Thromboemboli are large clots that dislodge from the surface of athesclerotic lesions and occlude distal arteries causing immediate ischemia. Atheroemboli, which originate from fracturing the lipid core tend to cause a process of organ dysfunction and systemic inflammation, termed cholesterol embolization syndrome. The presentation of arterial emboli depends on the arterial bed that is affected. The most common manifestations are strokes and acute lower limb ischemia. Less frequently, emboli target the upper extremities, mesenteric or renal arteries. Treatment involves rapid diagnosis, which may be aided by precise imaging studies and restoration of blood flow. The type of emboli, duration of presentation, and organ system affected determines the treatment course. Long-term therapy includes supportive medical care, identification of the source of embolism and prevention of additional emboli. Patients who experienced arterial embolism as a result of clots formed in the heart should be anticoagulated. Arterial emboli from atherosclerotic disease of the aorta or other large arteries should prompt treatment to reduce the risk for atherosclerotic progression, such as anti-platelet therapy and the use of statin drugs. The use of anticoagulation and surgical intervention to reduce the risk of arterial embolization from atherosclerotic lesions is still being studied.

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Pulmonary embolism (PE) is responsible for approximately 100,000 to 200,000 deaths in the United States each year. With a diverse range of clinical presentations from asymptomatic to death, diagnosing PE can be challenging. Various resources are available, such as clinical scoring systems, laboratory data, and imaging studies which help guide clinicians in their work-up of PE. Prompt recognition and treatment are essential for minimizing the mortality and morbidity associated with PE. Advances in recognition and treatment have also enabled treatment of some patients in the home setting and limited the amount of time spent in the hospital. This article will review the risk factors, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, evaluation, and treatment of PE.

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Septic embolism encompasses a wide range of presentations and clinical considerations. From asymptomatic, incidental finding on advanced imaging to devastating cardiovascular or cerebral events, this important clinico-pathologic entity continues to affect critically ill patients. Septic emboli are challenging because they represent two insults-the early embolic/ischemic insult due to vascular occlusion and the infectious insult from a deep-seated nidus of infection frequently not amenable to adequate source control. Mycotic aneurysms and intravascular or end-organ abscesses can occur. The diagnosis of septic embolism should be considered in any patient with certain risk factors including bacterial endocarditis or infected intravascular devices. Treatment consists of long-term antibiotics and source control when possible. This manuscript provides a much-needed synopsis of the different forms and clinical presentations of septic embolism, basic diagnostic considerations, general clinical approaches, and an overview of potential complications.

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Background: This study was designed to identify the incidence, injury patterns, and actual medical costs of occupational-related falls in Qatar, in order to provide a reference for establishing fall prevention guidelines and recommendations. Settings and Design: Retrospective database registry review in Level 1 Trauma Center at Tertiary Hospital in Qatar. Materials and Methods: During a 12-month period between November 1 ^st 2007 and October 31 ^st 2008, construction workers who fell from height were enrolled. A database was designed to characterize demographics, injury severity score (ISS), total hospital length of stay, resource utilization, and cost of care. Statistical Analysis: Data were presented as proportions, mean ± standard deviation or median and range as appropriate. In addition, case fatality rate and cost analysis were obtained from the Biostatistics and finance departments of the same hospital. Results: There were 315 fall-related injuries, of which 298 were workplace related. The majority (97%) were male immigrants with mean age of 33 ± 11 years. The most common injuries were to the spine, head, and chest. Mean ISS was 16.4 ± 10. There was total of 29 deaths (17 pre-hospital and 12 in-hospital deaths) for a case fatality rate of 8.6%. Mean cost of care (rounded figures) included pre-hospital services Emergency Medical Services (EMS), trauma resuscitation room, radiology and imaging, operating room, intensive care unit care, hospital ward care, rehabilitation services, and total cost (123, 82, 105, 130, 496, 3048,434, and 4418 thousand United States Dollars (USD), respectively). Mean cost of care per admitted patient was approximately 16,000 USD. Conclusions: Falling from height at a construction site is a common cause of trauma that poses a significant financial burden on the health care system. Injury prevention efforts are warranted along with strict regulation and enforcement of occupational laws.

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Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy constitutes the last option for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) refractory to conservative treatment. Since primary care centers are unable to provide this therapy, such patients need a transfer to a tertiary care center, which may be life-threatening without extracorporeal support. Methods: An ECMO transport team implanted an ECMO at the site of the primary care center with subsequent transport of the patient to the tertiary care center. Between September 2009 and March 2011, six patients with ARDS were treated by our ECMO transport team. Mean age was 39.5±12.0 years. All implantations were done percutaneously in a veno-venous configuration. Results: No complications occurred during the implant procedure and the subsequent transport. Four patients (67%) were successfully weaned from ECMO-therapy, and discharged from hospital. Conclusion: With a specialized ECMO transport team, ECMO-implantation can be achieved successfully in a peripheral hospital, and patients can be transported safely.

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Background: India has one of the highest road traffic accident rates in the world. To lessen this burden, information on the contributing factors is necessary. Materials and Methods: We studied a series of cases of non-fatal road traffic accidents in two tertiary care hospitals in Pimpri, Pune, India. A total of 212 non-fatal road traffic accidents admitted over a period of one year in these two hospitals constituted the study sample. The study variables were, the gender of the accident victims, mode of accident, days of week on which the accident took place, time of day when the injury was sustained, part of the body injured, nature of injury, and self-reported reasons for the accident. Statistical Analysis: data were summarized using percentages. The Chi-square test for goodness of fit was applied, to see whether there was any association between the different weekdays or time of day and the accidents. Results: Male : female ratio was almost 5 : 1, which was statistically significant (Chi-Square for goodness of fit = 95.11, df = 1, P < 0.0001). The maximum accidents occurred on Sundays and Mondays and the least around midweek (Wednesday). This pattern was also statistically significant (Chi-square for goodness of fit = 30.09, df = 6, P < 0.001). Pedestrians were the most vulnerable group, followed by drivers and pillions of two wheelers. These categories of road users contributed to almost 80% of the cases of Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs). Accidents were more likely in the time zone of 8 pm to midnight, followed by 4 pm to 8 pm (Chi-square for goodness of fit = 89.58, df = 5, P < 0.0001). A majority of the patients sustained multiple injuries followed by injuries to the lower limbs. A majority reported impaired visibility and fatigue as the cause of accident. Almost half (46.22%) of the injured admitted to drinking alcohol on a regular basis. Conclusion: Wide pavements and safe zebra crossings should be provided for pedestrians, as the highest casualty in this study were pedestrians. More accidents occurred on Sundays and Mondays and in the late evenings. Extra supervision by traffic police may be considered on Sundays / Holidays and the day following. Roads should be well lit to improve visibility after sunset.

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Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) is a systemic vasculitis, which can involve any organ system in the body; however, involvement of central nervous system at presentation is very uncommon. Dural involvement in WG has been infrequently reported; however, presentation with subdural hematoma as the initial manifestation is extremely rare. We present a case of WG presenting as subdural hematoma, which resolved on cytotoxic therapy without surgical evacuation.

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Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) is an unpredictable and as-of-yet unpreventable complication of maternity. With its low incidence it is unlikely that any given practitioner will be confronted with a case of AFE. However, this rare occurrence carries a high probability of serious sequelae including cardiac arrest, ARDS, coagulopathy with massive hemorrhage, encephalopathy, seizures, and both maternal and infant mortality. In this review the current state of medical knowledge about AFE is outlined including its incidence, risk factors, diagnosis, pathophysiology, and clinical manifestations. Special attention is paid to the modern aggressive supportive care that resulted in an overall reduction in the still alarmingly high mortality rate of this devastating entity. The key factors for successful management and resolution of this disease process continue to be sharp vigilance, a high level of clinical suspicion, and rapid all-out resuscitative efforts on the part of all clinicians involved in the medical care of the parturient.

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Aim: To analyze the HDU requirement in an obstetric population in terms of utilization rate, indications for admission, interventions required and gestational outcome. Setting and Design: A retrospective observational study was carried out from May 2007 to May 2011 in the Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology and HDU of IPGME and R, Kolkata. Materials and Methods: Data related to obstetric history, pre-existing medical problems, indications for HDU admission, interventions required, length of stay and outcome were collected and results were analyzed. Results: Our obstetric HDU utilization rate was 11.2 per 1000 deliveries. Out of total 57 subjects 48 had no prior antenatal care. Majority (68.42%) admitted in HDU with only obstetric reasons, while 31.57% required HDU for pre-existing medical diseases. The major obstetric indications were septicemia (35.08%), PPH (29.08%) and hypertension was observed in 21.05% of women. Other less common causes included post surgical acute kidney injury, APH, chrioamnionitis and pyelonephritis. Half of the women with pre-existing medical disease had cardiovascular problems. Patients with medical diseases had more pre-term labor (10 vs 5; P ≤ 0.05), respiratory failure (9 vs 2; P ≤ 0.05), cardiac failure (7 vs 1; P ≤ 0.05), duration of stay more than 10 days (15 vs 6; P ≤ 0.05), fetal growth restriction (6vs 3; P ≤ 0.05) and prolonged recovery time. Maternal mortality was 12.28% and fetal mortality was 17.54%. Conclusion: Early screening of high risk mothers, vigilant antenatal care and proper maintenance of asepsis during delivery and postpartum period can reduce HDU utilization rate and can result in healthier outcome.

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Background: The emergency department of every tertiary care teaching hospital is the backbone of community health care service. Aims: This study was undertaken to identify the pattern of emergencies in the hospital, and to identify the risk factors associated with these emergencies. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective record analysis of the emergency department from Jan 2010 to Dec 2010. The data were analyzed for various types of medical emergencies presented at the hospital at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot. Results: A total of 2310 patients presented in the emergency department of which nearly half were males; a great majority were in the age group of 15-40 years. The diseases related to the cardiovascular system, 367 (15.89%), topped the list of which hypertension was noted in 267 (11.56%) cases. This was followed by morbidities related to the neurological system, diabetes, hepatobiliary, respiratory, renal 168 (7.27%), poisoning, pyrexia of unknown origin, and multi-organ involvement. With regard to the specific diseases, the majority were contributed by coronary artery disease 217 (9.39%), stroke 178 (7.71%), alcoholic liver disease 160 (6.93%), and chronic obstructive lung diseases 90 (3.90%). In our series, we noted that a great majority of cases were in the 41-60 age groups except poisoning (majority less than 40 years). The age groups were significantly related with selected morbidities. Conclusions: There are transparent evidence that we need an organized emergency care system in India as relatively the younger age group (15-40 years) comprised nearly half cases.

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Background: In most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), road traffic fatality (RTF) trends are presented in aggregated form at the national level. This practice omits important information regarding RTF risk at sub-national levels. Objective: This ecological study assesses the extent of RTF variations at different sub-national levels in Pakistan, a low-income country. Materials and Methods: Based on official statistics, significant variations in three RTF indicators i.e. per population, per registered vehicles, and per crash were compared by regression analyses at two sub-national levels i.e. provincially (2000-2009) and district-wise (2004). Results: The national RTF counts are based on data from four provinces. From 2000 to 2009, RTF per population and per registered vehicles decreased in all provinces except Balochistan. RTF per crash in Punjab decreased from 0.61 to 0.56 (beta coefficient (β) year = -0.0082, P = <0.001), whereas in Balochistan it increased from 0.40 to 0.58 (β year = 0.0708, P = <0.001) over the same period. District-level comparisons were possible only in Punjab where RTF per crash varied from 0.25 to 2.15 and correlated (β = 0.50, P = 0.003) with RTF per population. Conclusions: Sub-national RTF surveillance is necessary in LMICs like Pakistan in order to prioritize available resources on high-risk jurisdictions such as the Balochistan province and districts of Punjab where high RTF per population and per crash exist.

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Background: Pneumothorax can be a both progressive and life threatening disorder. In this survey we evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of a recommended method for the interpretation of chest X-Rays (CXRs) compared to the common method in diagnosis of iatrogenic Pneumothorax in an emergency department. Materials and Methods: We conducted a study on 100 CXRs (31 with the diagnosis of small size pneumothorax and 69 normal) of patients who have undergone the upper central venous catheterization. CXRs were interpreted by 5 Emergency Specialists (ESs) and 5 general practitioners (GPs) separately using the conventional and recommended method. Recommended method included a 90 degree rotation against the side of chateterization in addition to using a yellow shield as the background color. Presence of pneumothorax on the CXR was confirmed by a radiologist. Results: 64.5% of the CXRs with pneumothorax were correctly diagnosed by GPs and 87.7% by ESs with reutine method and 83.2% and 97.4% by recommended method, respectively (P.value<0.001). 96.8% out of all CXRs were correctly diagnosed by GPs and 99.4% by ESs by conventional method and 97.9% by GP and 99.7% by ES was correctly diagnosed using recommended method(P.value<0.001). None of the underlying variables including sex, age, underlying diseases, the side of intervention did not affect on the diagnostic accuracy in either groups (P.value>0.05). Conclusion: A significant raise was obtained in the diagnostic accuracy of CXR using the recommended method. This study can be a preliminary study to conduct further investigations in order to enhance the diagnostic accuracy of CXRs.

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Background: Several models have been developed to measure the severity of illness in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, It is suggested that the models should be customized depending on the characteristics of different population of patients. This study is aimed to assess and modify the performance of Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE-II) model in a respiratory diseases referral center. Materials and Methods: A total of 730 patients, admitted to an intensive care unit during one year, were divided into two sets (71% training and 29% test). Our modified APACHE-II model was developed and calibrated on training set. Then, the integrity of the customized model was checked and compared to the original APACHE-II, on the test set. Logistic regression was used to develop ROC analysis, F-measure and kappa coefficient and were employed to calibrate the model. Results: Both Original and Our modified APACHE-II scores performed acceptable discriminative power (AUC = 0.908: 95%CI 0.861-0.854; and AUC = 0.856: 95%CI 0.789-0.923, respectively); the difference was not significant (P = 0.132). Our modified APACHE-II showed improved accuracy (87.9% vs. 84.1%) and sensitivity (56.4% vs. 16.3%) compared to the original model. F-measure and Kappa also gave the impression of improvement for our modified APACHE-II system. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that a modified APACHE-II system in a local ICU of respiratory disease could have similar discrimination and comparable calibration to the original model.

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Aim: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of nimesulide 1% w/w spray in minor soft-tissue injuries in adult Indians through a multicentric, open-labeled, phase III trial. Materials and Methods: 125 eligible patients, who met the selection criteria and gave written informed consent, were screened, enrolled, and treated with nimesulide 1% spray for seven days. Patients were assessed at baseline, day 1, day 4, and day 8 for efficacy and safety. Primary efficacy variable pain intensity, was measured using a NRS 1-100 mm (numerical rating scale). Secondary efficacy variables were degree of inflammation and edema and degree of functional impairment; overall assessment of efficacy was done by patient (patient global assessment - PGA) and by investigator (investigator global assessment - IGA) on days 4 and 8. Result: There was a statistically significant reduction in the NRS score, degree of pain, edema (inflammation), and improvement in functional impairment on days 4 and 8 and in serum creatine kinase levels on day 8 in comparison with baseline. Global assessment of efficacy on day 8 was rated as "very good (21%)," "good (67.70%)," and "fair (11.30%)" by investigators and "very good (25%)," "good (58.90%)," and "fair (16.1%)" by patients. Two mild adverse events were reported in two patients, which resolved without any intervention. One (local irritation) was reported as not related, while the other (itching sensation) was probably related to the study drug. Conclusion: Nimesulide 1% spray was effective with a good safety profile and can be considered is a good alternative to oral analgesic therapy in minor soft-tissue injuries.

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