Introduction Rib fractures are a common consequence of thoracic trauma, often signaling the presence of additional injuries and increasing the risk of mortality. This study aimed to elucidate the frequency, patterns, and mortality rates associated with rib fractures in multitrauma patients and to explore the association between rib fractures and other systemic injuries. Methods In a retrospective observational study at a tertiary care hospital, electronic medical records of multi-trauma patients over a four-year period were examined. Inclusion criteria encompassed adult patients who had undergone whole-body or chest and abdomen CT imaging. The study evaluated the incidence and location of rib fractures, associated thoracic and intra-abdominal injuries, and the in-hospital mortality rate. Results Among the 1,338 patients analyzed, rib fractures were identified in 273 (20.4%), with a median age of 33 years and 199 (72.9%) were male. Motor vehicle accidents were the most common trauma mechanism with a rate of 52% (n=142). Patients with rib fractures had significantly higher occurrences of pneumothorax (25.3%), hemothorax (20.9%), and intra-abdominal injuries (17.5%) (p<0.001). Notably, patients with six or more rib fractures exhibited a higher frequency of liver, spleen, and kidney injuries (p=0.003, p=0.011, p=0.001, respectively). The in-hospital mortality rate was 5.9% (n=17) for patients with rib fractures, significantly higher than those without (p<0.001). Conclusion Rib fractures in multi-trauma patients are an important indicator of severe concurrent injuries and are associated with a higher mortality rate. These findings advocate for a systemic and immediate evaluation of patients with rib fractures upon presentation in emergency departments to improve survival outcomes.

Obesity is one of the conditions that may require invasive airway management. The effectiveness of invasive airway techniques in obesity is not fully understood, and there is no routinely recommended technique. This study aimed to compare the first attempt success rate, procedure time, and difficulty of traditional surgical cricothyrotomy and bougie-guided cricothyrotomy on a 3D-printed surgical airway manikin made obese using simple techniques. The study was designed as a prospective randomized controlled study. The obese simulation was created with a 3D-printed surgical airway manikin and sponge layers. Bougie-guided cricothyrotomy and traditional cricothyrotomy techniques were taught to emergency residents, and they were asked to practice the technique on the designed manikin. The duration of the procedure for both techniques, the number of attempts, the success rate, and the difficulty scores of the techniques were recorded. A total of 24 residents were included in the study. As the first technique, 13 residents used bougie-guided cricothyrotomy. A total of 23 (95.8%) were successful with both techniques. In the traditional surgical cricothyrotomy, 7 (31.8%) residents were successful on the first attempt, while in the bougie-guided cricothyrotomy, 15 (68.2%) residents were successful on the first attempt (p = 0.020). In residents with less than 2 years of seniority, the mean difficulty score of the bougie-guided cricothyrotomy was lower (p = 0.024). The success rate of the bougie-guided cricothyrotomy in the first attempt was higher than that of the traditional surgical technique. There was no statistically significant difference between the overall success rates and procedure times of both methods. The level of difficulty of the bougie-guided cricothyrotomy was found to be easier, especially for residents with less than two years of seniority. The manuscript has been presented 9th EurAsian Congress on Emergency Medicine (oral presentation) at the 9–12 November, 2023, Antalya, Turkey, and won the best oral abstract award at this congress.

Fentanyl is an opioid analgesic frequently used in the emergency department (ED) and is usually administered without knowing the QTC values of the patients or being monitored. However, the effect of fentanyl on QTC, prolongation or shortening, has not been elucidated. This study aimed to determine the effect of fentanyl on QTC. This is a prospective observational study in the ED of a tertiary hospital on patients who received intravenous fentanyl for procedures other than intubation. ECG was performed before and at 1, 5, 15, 30, and 60 min after the initiation of fentanyl administration, and QTC value was calculated. Primary outcomes were QTC prolongation, defined as an increase in the QTC to ≥ 500 ms or any increase in QTC by ≥ 60 ms. The study included 109 patients. Of these, 60 patients were male, and the median age was 40. Compared with the baseline QTC value, statistically significant prolongation was detected at the 5th, 15th, 30th, and 60th minutes, with the maximum prolongation at 30 min, and the median was 13.08 ms. Most patients with QTC prolongation were female and over 40 years of age. Clinically, none of these patients developed malignant arrhythmias during the 60-minute monitored observation period. Fentanyl prolonged the QTC value statistically significantly. Although no patient developed malignant arrhythmia clinically, our results suggest that this QTC-prolonging effect should be considered when using fentanyl in patients at risk of torsades.

Background: This study has been conducted to evaluate the emergency department (ED) admissions during the pandemic period. Method: The study is a multicentre, retrospective study. ED admissions in two hospitals between April 1st, 2019 and May 31st, 2019 (pre-COVID-19 period); and between April 1st, 2020 and May 31st, 2020 (the period of COVID-19) have been compared. Result: Among 47888 ED admissions, 22854 (47.7%) females and 25034 (52.3%) males, with a mean age of 40.9±19.6 years have been included in the study. Of all patients, 30.1% (14440) were admitted to the EDs during the pandemic period in 2020. When the processes have been compared, it can be seen that while more laboratory examinations were requested from the EDs in the pre-pandemic period, more radiological examinations were requested during the pandemic period. Patients were consulted approximately 5 times more during the pandemic period than in the previous year. There has been a statistically significant difference between the periods in terms of consultation (p< 0.001). When the patients have been evaluated in terms of hospitalization, it can be seen that 5.1% of the patients were hospitalized in pre-pandemic period and 9.7% of the patients in the pandemic period (p