Cryospray reduces pain during venous cannulation in elective surgery patients: a randomized placebo-controlled study.

Background: Venous cannulation is widely used in healthcare systems, and for many patients, it is painful and distressing. We hypothesized that the rapid onset of cryospray use would reduce pain from venous cannulation compared to the use of a placebo spray.

Methods: The trial was a prospective randomized placebo-controlled trial including 130 adult patients scheduled for elective surgery.

Decisions about the limitations of life-sustaining treatment for acutely admitted older patients: a retrospective study of a Danish patient cohort.

Background: Life-sustaining therapy, including heart and lung resuscitation and transfer to the intensive care department, is demanding for patients and relatives and utilizes large amounts of healthcare resources. For older patients acutely admitted to the hospital, very sparse data exist on decision making about life-sustaining therapy.

Methods: Retrospective data were extracted from patients ≥ 70 years old who were acutely admitted to the hospital.

The effects of preoperative focused cardiac ultrasound in high-risk patients: A randomised controlled trial (PREOPFOCUS).

Background: Surgery is the third most common cause of mortality worldwide. Focused cardiac ultrasound (FOCUS) yields information on cardiac status and discloses the presence of unknown pathology. Preoperative FOCUS changes patient treatment, allowing for a patient-tailored anaesthesia.

The effects of preoperative point-of-care focused cardiac ultrasound in high-risk patients: study protocol for a prospective randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Perioperative mortality and morbidity remain substantial in acute surgery. Risk factors include known cardiovascular disease, but preoperative screening is insensitive to occult cardiopulmonary conditions. Focused cardiac ultrasound (FOCUS) can disclose both structural and functional cardiac disease and provides insight into the patient's haemodynamic status.

[Fatal course following poisoning with an illegal weight-reducing agent].

DNP is a weight-reducing agent, which has been revived through sale over the Internet. DNP uncouples the oxidative phosphorylation in cells, leading to an excessive production of heat. A 39-year-old male ingested four grams of DNP and developed severe muscular stiffness and eventually cardiac arrest.

[Treatment with disulfiram can be dangerous].

A 66 year-old woman developed severe hypotension and bronchospasm as a result of disulfiram-ethanol reaction (DER). She presented with sudden onset of severe life-threatening symptoms. The clinical signs of DER were treated successfully and symptomatically with intravenous fluids, catecholamines, inhalations and benzodiazepines in the intensive care unit.