William A. Berk

Controversial issues in clinical management of the simple wound

The primary goals of the practitioner managing a simple wound are to encourage primary healing and avoid infection. We conclude from this analysis that the four basic aspects of wound management we have reviewed, the timing of wound repair, the preparation of the wound, local anesthetic management, and antimicrobial therapy, will continue to be fertile topics for investigation and debate.

Usefulness of intravenous lipid emulsion for cardiac toxicity from cocaine overdose.

The investigators describe the clinical course of a 26-year-old-man who was brought to the emergency department in a comatose state with status epilepticus after smoking a large amount of crack cocaine. In the emergency department, he was intubated because of depressed mental status and respiratory acidosis. His troponin I remained negative, and electrocardiography showed wide-complex tachycardia with a prolonged corrected QT interval. Because of the corrected QT interval prolongation and wide-complex tachycardia, the patient was started on intravenous magnesium sulfate and sodium bicarbonate. Despite these interventions, no improvement in cardiac rhythm was observed, and electrocardiography continued to show wide-complex tachycardia. The patient became more unstable from a cardiovascular standpoint, with a decrease in blood pressure to 85/60 mm Hg. He was then given 100 ml of 20% lipid emulsion (Intralipid). Within 10 minutes of starting the infusion of 20% lipid emulsion, wide-complex tachycardia disappeared, with an improvement in systemic blood pressure to 120/70 mm Hg. Repeat electrocardiography after the infusion of intravenous lipid emulsion showed regular sinus rhythm with normal QRS and corrected QT intervals. The patient was successfully extubated on day 8 of hospitalization and discharged home on day 10. His cardiac rhythm and blood pressure remained stable throughout his further stay in the hospital.

Severe Oral Phenytoin Overdose Does Not Cause Cardiovascular Morbidity

STUDY OBJECTIVE To evaluate the potential for cardiovascular toxicity from severe oral phenytoin overdose. STUDY POPULATION Fifty-seven patients admitted during a two-year period to an inner-city hospital for severe oral phenytoin overdose, which is defined as a peak level of 40 micrograms/mL or more. METHODS Case records were reviewed retrospectively for symptoms and signs of phenytoin toxicity, especially circulatory effects. Baseline and toxic 12-lead ECGs, when available, were reviewed in detail. Continuous variables were compared using either paired or unpaired t tests, as appropriate. Significance was taken as P less than or equal to .05. RESULTS Mean peak phenytoin level was 49.4 +/- 7.7 micrograms/mL. Continuous single-lead ECG monitoring in 36 patients (63%) for a mean of 26.5 +/- 21.6 hours revealed no incidents of dysrhythmia requiring treatment. ECGs recorded during toxicity in 52 cases (91%) revealed no clinically significant abnormalities attributable to phenytoin. ECGs during toxic and baseline states were available for detailed analysis in 15 cases. Ten patients exhibited an increase in PR interval (mean, 19 +/- 10 ms) when toxic, whereas five had a decrease (mean, 18 +/- 11 ms) compared with nontoxic records. No change in heart rate, QRS duration, or corrected QT interval was observed. There were no circulatory complications and no deaths. CONCLUSION Cardiovascular toxicity is rarely a manifestation of oral phenytoin overdose. Routine management of stable patients with severe phenytoin overdose in a monitored setting is not mandatory.

Bradycardic responses to vagally mediated bedside maneuvers in healthy volunteers

PURPOSE To determine the relative potency in healthy individuals of the vagally mediated reflexes used clinically to inhibit sinoatrial and atrioventricular node function. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Twenty healthy volunteers with no history of heart disease performed face immersion in cold water and the Valsalva maneuver twice, to maximum endurance and to the subjective point of first discomfort, and face immersion in warm water and the Müller maneuver to maximum endurance only. Right and left carotid massage and left, right, and bilateral eyeball compression were each performed for 15 seconds. Change in heart rate was taken as baseline minus the rate over the slowest three consecutive QRS cycles elicited by each maneuver. Fishers least-significant-difference multiple comparison procedure was used to analyze heart rate responses. Significance was defined as p less than or equal to 0.05. RESULTS Maximum pulse decrements from baseline and 95% confidence intervals in beats/minute were as follows: cold-water face immersion to maximum endurance 15.5 (12.3 to 18.5), cold-water face immersion to first discomfort 10.1 (6.7 to 13.1), Valsalva maneuver to maximum endurance 9.2 (6.3 to 12.4), Valsalva maneuver to first discomfort 8.3 (5.0 to 11.3), right carotid massage 7.3 (4.3 to 10.3), left carotid massage 5.2 (2.3 to 8.4), right eyeball compression 6.0 (3.1 to 9.2), left eyeball compression 6.6 (3.6 to 9.5), bilateral eyeball compression 6.0 (3.1 to 9.2), warm-water face immersion 7.0 (3.2 to 9.8), and Müller maneuver 1.6 (-1.3 to 4.9). Bradycardia was significantly greater for cold-water immersion of the face performed to maximum endurance than for all other maneuvers. CONCLUSION In healthy subjects, the diving reflex is the most potent of the vagally mediated reflexes utilized in clinical practice. Immersion of the face in cold water may prove effective at the bedside when other maneuvers fail to augment vagal tone adequately.

Emergency medicine in the Third World: Two years as director of the Kingston, Jamaica, public hospital casualty department

A US emergency physician worked for two years as director of a busy emergency department in a large public hospital in Kingston, Jamaica (West Indies). As expected, medical practice in the Third World required caring for patients with far less than he was accustomed to in the way of diagnostic and therapeutic resources. However, more than one lesson in clinical medicine was provided by local approaches to local problems. Despite resource limitations, innovations and improvements were effected, particularly in wound care. Although working in the Third World can be a rewarding experience, well-meaning health workers from advantaged countries should ensure that their efforts contribute to, rather than detract from, the ability of their hosts to independently provide medical care.

Effect of body locale and addition of epinephrine on the duration of action of a local anesthetic agent

STUDY OBJECTIVE Little information exists relating body locale to the duration of action of local anesthetics. We tested the duration of action of a local anesthetic with and without epinephrine at different body locales. PARTICIPANTS Twenty healthy volunteers aged 27 to 48 years (mean, 32.0 years). INTERVENTIONS In the first of two experiments (L), 20 subjects had 1 mL buffered 1% lidocaine injected intradermally on the forehead, hand, forearm, and calf. In the second experiment (LE), ten subjects were injected at the same sites with lidocaine containing epinephrine. METHODS Subjects ranked anesthesia by reaction to pinprick from 0 (complete) to 20 (none) on a scale with testing done every 15 (L) or 30 (LE) minutes and continued until no anesthetic effect was present. Duration of effective and of any anesthesia were times until score of more than 5 and of more than 19, respectively. Mean duration of anesthesia was compared by analysis of variance (between body areas) and paired two-tailed t-test (L vs LE). Significance was taken as P less than or equal to .05. RESULTS Anesthesia was significantly briefer for the face than for all other body locales by both indexes of duration and for both plain lidocaine and lidocaine with epinephrine (P less than .001 to P less than .05). Anesthesia with epinephrine lasted significantly longer than with lidocaine alone at all body locales and for duration of both effective or any anesthesia (P = .0001 to P = .001). Based on 95% confidence interval limits, the duration of anesthesia at other body locales is predicted to be 1.3- to 3.2-fold that on the face. Confidence interval analysis indicated that addition of epinephrine to lidocaine increases the duration of anesthetic action by 1.3- to 13.0-fold that of lidocaine alone. CONCLUSION The duration of action of local anesthesia is considerably shorter for the face than for other body areas. Epinephrine significantly increases the duration of action of lidocaine at all body locales.

Infection control for health care workers caring for critically injured patients: A national survey

Prevention of transmission of bloodborne pathogens to health care workers (HCWs) involved in resuscitation of critically injured patients presents special challenges. As a step toward creation of a standard, a telephone survey of the infection control practices in this setting of the 100 busiest EDs in the United States (US) was performed. Departmental staff who were knowledgeable about ED infection prevention protocols were questioned about general policy, barrier protection measures, sharps management, and educational programs directed to HCWs. Surveys were completed for 82 EDs. Of these, 56 (68%) either function as primary trauma care facilities for the local community, or are designated level 1 trauma centers by the American College of Surgeons. Specific infection control protocols for trauma resuscitation had been printed and posted by 18 EDs (22%), with the remaining 64 (78%) using the same universal precautions for care of the severely injured as for other patients. A specific policy relating to invasive procedures had been promulgated by 66 EDs (80%). Barrier protection was used by protocol or by custom for care of all critically injured patients by 43 EDs (52%). Impermeable gowns with sleeves were available in 63 EDs (77%). Eye or face protection included face shields by 74 EDs (90%), face masks by 76 EDs (93%), and goggles by 72 EDs (88%). Only 59 EDs (72%) reported that sharp containers were always within arms reach of HCWs with material to discard. Specially adapted equipment included self-sheathing intravenous catheters (21, 26%) and needle/syringe combinations (16, 20%). Considerable variation exists in infection control practices in busy US EDs during resuscitation of critically injured patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Electrocardiographic findings in infective endocarditis

Management of infective endocarditis includes early recognition of complications and prompt intervention when necessary to avert an untoward result. Among the most serious potential complications of this disorder are those that involve the heart itself. Although the ECG is often normal or nearly so in patients with endocarditis, at other times apparently minor abnormalities may be harbingers of potentially fatal complications. The ECG therefore plays an important role in the initial and ongoing evaluation of patients in whom endocarditis is suspected.

Hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage simulating acute myocardial infarction

We describe the case of a patient who presented with cardiovascular collapse and ECG changes strongly suggestive of acute MI. Our experience and that of others with patients who had sustained intracerebral hemorrhage indicate the potential for this entity to be misdiagnosed as acute MI early in a patients clinical course. Reports of mistaken administration of thrombolytic therapy to patients with pericarditis or aortic dissection, other conditions that may be electrocardiographically mimic MI, underscore the potential for error. Clinicians should consider the possibility of intracerebral hemorrhage before treatment of MI with thrombolytic agents.

Clinical implications of low QRS complex voltage

Low QRS voltage on the 12-lead surface ECG is present when the amplitude of all six standard limb leads is less than 5 mm. This finding may be a normal variant, but necessitates investigation of the patient for an underlying cause. A variety of cardiac and systemic diseases may be responsible.