Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Australian Mental Health Triage Scale in the emergency department: The case of Turkey.

Purpose: To examine the effectiveness of the Australian Mental Health Triage Scale(AMHTS) in Turkey.

Design And Methods: The study is a methodological and semiexperimental study. It was carried out with 30 emergency service nurses and 378 psychiatric patients at a university hospital.

Investigation of acute effects of topical Alpinia officinarum (galangal) treatment in experimental contact type burns and comparison with topical silver sulfadiazine treatment.

Background: It was aimed to determine whether Alpinia officinarum (AO) (galangal), which has been regarded to be effective on wound healing, is healing on experimental contact type burns and compare its effects with silver sulfadiazine (SSD).

Methods: Thirty-five rats were divided into five groups of seven rats each group. Superficial second degree burns were formed by contacting a 1×1 cm copper tip which was kept at 100°C constant temperature to the three shaved areas on the back of rats without applying any pressure for 10 s.

The healing effects of Hyperium perforatum (St. John's Wort) on experimental alkaline corrosive eosephageal and stomach burns.

Background: The most frequent etiologic cause is alkaline substances. We investigated the protective effects of the plant St. John 's Wort (Hypericum perforatum).

Respiratory Failure Due To Plant Poisoning: Nicotiana glauca Graham.

Background: Cases of human poisoning associated with Nicotiana glauca Graham are quite rare. Patients may consume the plant by mistaking it for spinach or use it as a folk remedy. The toxin stimulates the acetylcholine receptors in the central and autonomic nervous systems.

Views of emergency physicians working in university and state hospitals in Turkey regarding the use of analgesics in patients with acute abdominal pain.

Background: Use of narcotic analgesics in patients with acute abdominal pain does not cause delayed misdiagnosis, increases patient comfort and does not suppresses physical examination. The purpose of this study was to determine attitudes anddaily practices of emergency medicine (EM) specialists, residents and faculty members in Turkey on the use of analgesics in patients with acute abdominal pain and factors affecting their decisions on the use of analgesics.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed between November 15, 2013 and January 25, 2014 by conducting a questionnaire to EM physicians working in University Hospitals, Education and Research Hospitals of the Ministry of Health, State Hospitals, and Private Hospitals in Turkey.

Investigation of acute effects of Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort-Kantaron) treatment in experimental thermal burns and comparison with silver sulfadiazine treatment.

Background: Hypericum perforatum (HP) (St. John's Wort-Kantaron) has been used widely for the treatment of burn injuries for many years in traditional Turkish medicine. The aim of study was to investigate HP treatment in experimental thermal burns and compare it with silver sulfadiazine (SS) treatment.

Comparison of Conventional Radiography and Digital Computerized Radiography in Patients Presenting to Emergency Department.

Objectives: To compare the differences between conventional radiography and digital computerized radiography (CR) in patients presenting to the emergency department.

Methods: The study enrolled consecutive patients presenting to the emergency department who needed chest radiography. Quality score of the radiogram was assessed with visual analogue score (VAS-100 mm), measured in terms of millimeters and recorded at the end of study.

The effect of the use of ultrasound in the success of peripheral venous catheterisation.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ultrasound-guided peripheral venous catheterisation in patients where difficulty was experienced in peripheral venous catheterisation. The study was conducted in the emergency department at a university hospital in İzmir Turkey. After obtaining institutional review board approval and written informed consent, 60 patients with a history or suspicion of difficult cannulation were enrolled with 30 patients in traditional and 30 in ultrasound group.

The effects of oral antibiotics on infection prophylaxis in traumatic wounds.

Background: The objective of this study is to examine the effectiveness of oral antibiotics in the prevention of infection development in traumatic wounds.

Methods: Forty Wistar albino rats were divided into five groups of eight animals. After the crushed wound model was made on the back of the rats, wounds were closed with a simple suture and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 strain was used to create infection.

[Impact of the practice of "Extended Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma" (e-FAST) on clinical decision in the emergency department].

Background: We aimed to show the sensitivity of Extended Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (e-FAST) for detection of pneumothorax, hemothorax and intraabdominal injury. We also investigated the relationship between e-FAST and need for invasive treatment.

Methods: This study included patients who experienced multiple trauma.

Can D-dimer testing help emergency department physicians to detect acute aortic dissections?

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of D-dimer testing for detection of acute aortic dissection.

Methods: This study is a retrospective chart review of patients who had been evaluated with suspicion of acute aortic dissection. All patients' D-dimer levels were determined prior to their further work up in the emergency department.

Acute coronary syndrome mimicked by acute cholecystitis.

Various aetiologies have been reported that cause severe trauma segment and T-wave abnormalities that are not related to acute coronary syndromes. However, the reports of transient ECG abnormalities associated with acute cholecystitis are limited in the literature. We describe a 42-year-old man presented with abdominal pain and hypertensive episode that developed dynamic ECG changes mimicking acute coronary syndrome and was diagnosed acute cholecystitis eventually.

De novo cerebral arteriovenous malformation: Pink Floyd's song "Brick in the Wall" as a warning sign.

Background: Arteriovenous malformations are shunts between an artery and the venous system that lie within a nidus without an intervening capillary bed. These lesions are thought to be congenital, but recent reports have challenged this assumption.

Case Report: A 50-year-old man presented to the emergency department with a generalized tonic-clonic seizure.

Current status of emergency residency training programs in Turkey: after 14 years of experience.

Objective: Emergency residency training programs, which have been developing in Turkey over the last 14 years, have been improving emergency health services by training each year a significant number of emergency medicine specialists. Sufficient data about these emergency residency training programs is not currently available. The purpose of this study is to determine (i) the structure of emergency residency training programs and (ii) trainer and resident views concerning these programs.

A rare diagnosis in emergency department: spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma.

We report a case of a 32-year-old man who presented to the emergency department (ED) with a sudden onset of paraplegia due to spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma. Although the patient had a poor neurological condition on presentation, he was successfully operated and discharged without any neurological sequel. Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma is a rarely seen clinical entity, especially in the ED.

Determination of advanced life support knowledge level of residents in a Turkish university hospital.

The aim of the study was to determine the advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) knowledge level of residents and related factors in the departments of Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Cardiology in a university hospital. For this cross-sectional study, a total of 20 multiple-choice questions were prepared concerning several different topics, including: fatal dysrhythmias, oxygenation, ventilation and airway control, asystole, and pulseless electrical activity. Questions were given to residents before their periodic training meetings and collected in 30 min.

Effective treatment of hereditary angioedema with fresh frozen plasma in an emergency department.

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rarely seen disorder of C1 inhibitor (C1-INH) deficiency usually manifested by non-pruritic swelling of the skin. Acute exacerbations are not sensitive to conventional medications, and C1-esterase inhibitor concentrates are recommended as the first-line therapy. However, fresh frozen plasma is the main treatment alternative in many centers due to the lack of C1-esterase inhibitor concentrates.

Can elevated troponin I levels predict complicated clinical course and inhospital mortality in patients with acute pulmonary embolism?

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the value of elevated cardiac troponin I (cTnI) for prediction of complicated clinical course and in-hospital mortality in patients with confirmed acute pulmonary embolism (PE).

Methods And Results: This study was a retrospective chart review of patients diagnosed as having PE, in whom cTnI testing was obtained at emergency department (ED) presentation between January 2002 and April 2006. Clinical characteristics; echocardiographic right ventricular dysfunction; inhospital mortality; and adverse clinical events including need for inotropic support, mechanical ventilation, and thrombolysis were compared in patients with elevated cTnI levels vs patients with normal cTnI levels.

Do we really need plain and soft-tissue radiographies to detect radiolucent foreign bodies in the ED?

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare 3 imaging techniques-plain radiography, soft-tissue radiography, and ultrasonography-in detecting nonradiopaque foreign bodies in soft tissue.

Methods: In this randomized, blinded, and descriptive in vitro study, 40 chicken thighs with 2 types of nonradiopaque foreign bodies (wood and rubber) and 40 chicken thighs as part of a control group were evaluated to detect soft-tissue foreign bodies with plain radiography, soft-tissue radiography, and high-frequency ultrasonography.

Results: The overall sensitivity, specificity, as well as positive predictive and negative predictive values of plain radiography for both nonradiopaque foreign bodies were 5%, 90%, 33%, and 48%, respectively; those of soft-tissue radiography for both nonradiopaque foreign bodies were 5%, 90%, 33%, and 48%, respectively; and those of ultrasonography for both nonradiopaque foreign bodies were 90%, 80%, 81%, and 89%, respectively.

Acute myocardial infarction associated with amitriptyline overdose.

Tricyclic antidepressant overdose is known to cause cardiopulmonary and central nervous system complications. As with other cardiovascular complications, amitriptyline toxicity may cause acute myocardial infarction. This paper reports the case of a young female with acute myocardial infarction as a novel consequence of tricyclic antidepressant overdose.