Time savings with prehospital thrombolysis in an urban area.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the time saved by prehospital thrombolysis compared with the usual inhospital reperfusion strategies in Geneva, Switzerland, a moderate-sized urban area with short transportation times (median time 4 min). Patients with acute myocardial infarction, diagnosed clinically and by means of a 12-lead electrocardiogram in a mobile intensive care unit, without contraindications to thrombolysis, were randomly assigned either to 'prehospital thrombolysis' or to 'usual hospital care', i.e.

Blunt abdominal trauma: should US be used to detect both free fluid and organ injuries?

Purpose: To evaluate abdominal ultrasonography (US) for indirect (with free fluid analysis only) and direct (with free fluid and parenchymal analysis) detection of organ injury in patients with blunt abdominal trauma, with findings at computed tomography (CT) and/or surgery as the standard of diagnosis.

Materials And Methods: Abdominal US was performed at hospital admission in consecutive patients with blunt abdominal trauma. The presence of free peritoneal fluid and organ injury were recorded and compared with results of abdominal CT in all hemodynamically stable patients.