• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.77-84
• /
• 2014

Purpose: Carbamate insecticides are potent cholinesterase inhibitors capable of causing severe cholinergic toxicity. Use of carbamate rather than organophosphate insecticides has been increasing. Compared with organophosphate poisoning, relatively few studies have investigated carbamate-associated acute pancreatitis. We investigated general characteristics and pancreatitis of carbamate poisoning and the predictors, among those readily assessed in the emergency department. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of consecutive patients, aged over 18 years, who were admitted between January 2008 and April 2012 to an emergency department (ED) of an academic tertiary care center for treatment of carbamate poisoning. Patients who exhibited poisoning by any other material, except alcohol, were excluded. After application of exclusion criteria, patients were divided according to carbamate-induced pancreatitis and non-pancreatitis groups. Results: A total of 41 patients were included in this study. Among these 41 patients, the prevalence of acute pancreatitis was 36.6% (15 patients). Initial blood chemistry tests showed a statistically higher glucose level in the pancreatitis group, compared with the non-pancreatitis group (222, IQR 189-284 vs. 137, IQR 122-175 mg/dL, P<0.05). Regarding clinical courses and outcomes, a significantly higher proportion of patients developed pneumonia [10 (66.7%) vs. 6 (23.1%), P<0.05] and had a longer hospital stay (7 days, IQR 6-12 vs. 5 days, IQR 2-11, P<0.05), but no difference in mortality, in the pancreatitis group vs. the non-pancreatitis group. In multivariate analysis, the initial glucose was showing significant association with the presentation of carbamate-induced acute pancreatitis (odds ratio 1.018, 95% confidence interval 1.001-1.035, P<0.05). Conclusion: Carbamate-induced acute pancreatitis is common, but not fatal. Initial serum glucose level is associated with acute pancreatitis.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.81-88
• /
• 2013

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate current status, indications, and complications of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Methods: A retrospective investigation of patients who underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy at a university medical center from September 2004 to August 2013 was conducted based on patients' medical records and results of an email survey for 99 emergency centers. Results: During the study period, a total of 233 patients underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Indications for hyperbaric oxygen treatment of illness or injury were as follows: 1) 151 cases of acute carbon monoxide poisoning(65.4%), 2) flap wound management, including 42 cases(18.2%), 3) skin care transplanted, including 23 cases(10.4%), 4) Burger's disease, including 5 five cases(2.1%), respectively. Total application time$^*$ frequency was 1,088 and total time was 1,239 hours. Among 233 patients who underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy, 32 patients(13.7%) had complications: 1) otalgia in 21 cases(9.0%), 2) mastoiditis?in six cases(2.6%), 3) hemotympanum in five cases(2.1%), respectively. There were only 8 emergency centers that currently had an operational hyperbaric oxygen chamber in 77 emergency centers(10.4%). Conclusion: Indications identified through this study showed difference from current indications worldwide. It seems necessary that physicians' perception regarding application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for more indications be changed and improved. A hyperbaric chamber capable of providing respiratory assistance and intensive care is also needed. A good network for sharing treatment experiences and a specialized team for administration of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is also required.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.98-104
• /
• 2011

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of the trauma care system of our hospital, in which emergency physicians care for major trauma patients in the emergency intensive care unit (ICU) in consultation with intervention radiologists and surgeons. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study conducted in an emergency ICU of a tertiary referral hospital. We enrolled consecutive patients who had been admitted to our emergency ICU with major trauma from March 2007 to September 2010. We collected data with respect to demographic findings, mechanisms of injury, the trauma and injury severity score (TRISS), emergency surgery, angiographic intervention, and 6-month mortality. Then, we compared the observed and predicted survivals of the patients. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test and calibration plots by using 10 groups, one for each decile, of predicted mortality were used to evaluate the fitness of TRISS. P-values of greater than 0.05 represent a fair calibration. Results: Among 116 patients, 12 (10.34%) were dead within 6 months after admission to the ICU, and 29 (25.00%) and 38 (32.80%) patients received emergency surgery and angiographic intervention, respectively. The mean injury severity score and revised trauma score were $36.97{\pm}17.73$ and $7.84{\pm}6.75$, respectively. The observed survival and the predicted survival of the TRISS were 89.66% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 84.03~95.28%) and 69.85% (95% CI: 63.80~75.91%), respectively. The calibration plots showed that the observed survival of our patients was consistently higher than the predicted survival of the TRISS ($p$ <0.001). Conclusion: The observed survival for the trauma care system of our hospital, in which emergency physicians care for major trauma patients in the emergency ICU in consultation with intervention radiologists and surgeons, was higher than the predicted survival of the TRISS.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.110-115
• /
• 2020

Purpose: Acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients with glyphosate poisoning has a poor prognosis. This study aimed to predict the risk factors for AKI in patients with glyphosate poisoning at the emergency department (ED). Methods: Clinical data on glyphosate poisoning patients at ED who were older than 18 years were collected retrospectively between January 2013 and December 2019. The clinical characteristics and clinical outcomes of the AKI group in patients with glyphosate poisoning were compared with the non-AKI (NAKI) group. Results: Of 63 glyphosate poisoning patients, AKI was observed in 15 (23.8%). The AKI patients group showed the following: old age (p=0.038), low systolic blood pressure (p=0.021), large amount of ingestion (p=0.026), delayed hospital visits (p=0.009), high white blood cells (WBC) (p<0.001), high neutrophil counts (p<0.001), high neutrophil-lymphocyte (LN) ratios (p<0.001), high serum potassium (p=0.005), low arterial blood pH (p=0.015), and low pO2 (p=0.021), low bicarbonate (p=0.009), and high Poisoning Severity Score (PSS) (p<0.001). AKI patients required hemodialysis, ventilator care (p<0.001, p=0.002), and inotropics (p<0.001). They also showed more intensive care unit admission (p<0.001), longer hospitalization (p<0.001), and high mortality (p<0.001). Logistic multivariate regression analysis showed that high WBCs (OR, 1.223) and increased LN ratios (OR, 1.414) were independently associated with the occurrence of AKI. Conclusion: In patients with glyphosate poisoning at ED, high WBCs and increased LN ratios can help predict the occurrence of AKI.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.158-160
• /
• 2006

Acute methemoglobinemia is induced by various causes, especially ingestion of oxidizing agents such as phenazopyridine, dapsone, and nitrite. Indoxacarb is an oxadiazine insecticide with high insecticidal activity and low mammalian toxicity. It is known to block voltage-gated Na+ channels in insects and mammals, but the mechanism is not yet well understood. We describe a case of a 41-year-old woman with methemoglobinemia that developed following Indoxacarb ingestion, which improved after intravenous injection of methylene blue. This is the first known such case. If signs and symptoms of methemoglobinemia occur after Indoxacarb ingestion, antidotal therapy with methylene blue should be considered as a necessary treatment.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.33-36
• /
• 2016

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify the characteristics associated with sulfuric acid injury in the emergency department. Methods: Data were collected retrospectively from January 2007 to December 2015 on all sulfuric acid injuries presenting to the emergency department in Gu-mi Soonchunhyung University Hospital. Patients injured by sulfuric acid were recorded over a nine year study period and collected data included demographics, injury mechanism, injured body part, hospital care and final diagnosis. Results: A total of 26 cases were identified. Most patients were male (88.5%) and the face was the most commonly injured body part. The most common mechanism of injury was splashing injury. A total of 16 (61.5%) patients were identified as having lesions worse than second degree burns. Conclusion: Sulfuric acid can cause severe and fatal skin burn. When working with sulfuric acid, acid proof protect clothing, goggles and glove should be worn. Furthermore, safety education and workplace environment improvement are necessary to reduce sulfuric acid injury.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.59-68
• /
• 2010

The medical emergency departments are suffering from the crowdness of patients, hence the quality of medical service the patients are receiving are getting poorer. Overcrowding of medical emergency departments may incur the waiting time for the treatment, and the improper treatment in time. For the operational control of the emergency department, the crowding index is commonly used to identify the crowding intensity, with which the operation process is managed, and future process can be expected. In this study the composite crowding index is suggested, in which the trend of inpatients rate, the age and acuity of patients, and resource of ED are considered. The validity of the suggested crowding index is discussed by the regression analysis for the index and the actual number of inpatients, and by the simulation study using the process model and the real data.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 2004

Purpose: A number of reports about the intoxicated patients have been introduced, but there were few multicenter studies. The purpose of this study was to analyse the patients with toxic exposure in the Daejon province. Methods: The patients who were presented to the four academic emergency departments in Daejon with toxic exposure were enrolled from January to June 2003. The collected variables were according to the form which modified from the Toxic Exposure Surveillance System (TESS) of the American Association of Poison Control Centers. Results: The toxic exposure patients were 362 cases which is $0.78\%$ of total patients presented to the emergency department. The most common exposure site was home ($84\%$). Eighteen percent of cases were exposed by two or more substances. The most common substance was the pesticides ($34.8\%$), and the non-prescription drugs ($32.6\%$) was followed. The suicidal attempt was the top reason for exposure ($67.1\%$). The route of exposure other than ingestion was $3.6\%$. Although the most patients left the hospital within a day, the average treatment period was 4.4 days. Thirty-one patients ($8.6\%$) were expired, and 22 among them were exposed to the paraquat. Conclusion: We reported the current status of toxic exposure in Daejon province by modified TESS style.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.218-226
• /
• 2009

Purpose: In multiple blunt trauma patients, transfusion may be a significant therapeutic adjunct to non-operative management. The blood products must be expedited and efficiently to patients in impending shock caused by hemorrhage or traumatic coagulopathy, but the decision to perform blood transfusion has been made empirically, based on the clinician' and has not been guided by objective parameters, but own opinion, that may result in an underestimate of or a failure to detect bleeding, in delayed transfusion, and in a reduced outcome. This article presents quickly assessable predictive factors for determining if a blood transfusion is required to improve outcomes in multiple blunt trauma patients admitted to the emergency room. Methods: In a retrospective review of 282 multiple blunt trauma patients who visited our emergency center by emergency rescuer during a 1-year period, possible factors predictive of the need for a blood transfusion were subjected to univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: Of blunt trauma patients, 9.2% (26/282), received red blood cells in the first 24 hours of care. Univariate analysis revealed significant associations between blood transfused and heart rate (HR) > 100 beats/min, respiratory rate (RR) > 20 breaths/min, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) < 14, Revised Trauma Score (RTS) < 11, white blood cell count (WBC) < 4000 or > 10000, and initial abnormal portable trauma series (Cspine lateral, chest AP, pelvis AP). A multiple regression analysis, with a correction for diagnosis, identified HR > 100 beats/min (EXP 3.2), GCS < 14 (EXP 4.1), and abnormal trauma series (EXP 2.9), as independent predictors. Conclusion: In our study, systolic blood pressure (SBP) < 90 mmHg, old age > 65 years, hemoglobin < 13g/dL, mechanism of injury were poor predictors of early blood transfusion. Initial abnormal portable trauma series, HR > 100 beats/min, and GCS < 14 were quickly assessable useful factors for predicting a need for early blood transfusion in blunt trauma patients visiting the emergency room.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.166-173
• /
• 2018

Purpose: Many traumatic patients die from sepsis and multiple organ failure. Early recognition of post-traumatic sepsis in traumatic patients will help improve the prognosis. Recently, procalcitonin (PCT), macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), and lactic acid have emerged as predictive factors. Our study aims to explore the significance of PCT, MIF and lactic acid as a predictor of posttraumatic-sepsis in trauma patients. Methods: This study was conducted on prospective observational study patients who visited an emergency medical center in a university hospital from March 2014 to February 2016. We measured the white blood cells, c-reactive protein (CRP), lactic acid, PCT, and MIF with serum taken from the patient's blood within 1 hour of the occurrence of the trauma. The definition of post-traumatic sepsis was defined as being part of systemic inflammation response syndrome criteria with infections within a week. Results: A total of 132 patients were analyzed, wherein 74 patients were included in the low injury severity score (ISS) group (ISS <15) and 58 patients were included in the high ISS group (ISS ${\geq}15$). The mean PCT, MIF, and lactic acid levels were higher in the high ISS group (p<0.05). Meanwhile, 38 patients were included in the early sepsis group and 94 patients were included in the non-sepsis group. The mean MIF levels were higher in the sepsis group than the non-sepsis group (p<0.05) and there were no significant differences in the initial CRP, lactic acid, and PCT levels in these two groups. Conclusions: MIF may be considered as a predictive factor for sepsis in trauma patients.