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Tension Pneumothorax in Prehospital Setting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2021

Yagmur Ay Open the ORCID record for Yagmur Ay [Opens in a new window]  and
Mustafa Emin Canakci Open the ORCID record for Mustafa Emin Canakci [Opens in a new window]
Yagmur Ay*
Affiliation:
Emergency Department, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Eskisehir, Turkey
Mustafa Emin Canakci
Affiliation:
Emergency Department, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Eskisehir, Turkey
*
Correspondence: Yagmur Ay, MD Emergency Department, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Eskisehir, Turkey Prof. Dr. Nabi Avcı Boulevard, No:4, Meselik, Odunpazarı, 26040 E-mail: ayyagmur@hotmail.com
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Abstract

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Keywords

emergency departmentpneumothoraxPOCUSprehospital
Type
Letter to the Editor
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 36 , Issue 4 , August 2021 , pp. 498
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine

To the Editor:

We’ve read the article by Khalil, et al entitled “Randomized Controlled Trial of Point-of-Care Ultrasound Education for the Recognition of Tension Pneumothorax by Paramedics in Prehospital Simulation” with great interest. Reference Khalil, Merelman and Riccio1 The investigated disease is one which time-sensitive intervention has an enormous effect on patient mortality. Thus, getting better at prehospital management of tension pneumothorax becomes paramount of importance.

But while reading this article, there is a point which has caught our attention.

In the study design, one of the groups was educated how to spot pneumothorax only in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) and not a complete evaluation of a patient with shock. Reference Husain, Hagopian, Wayman, Baker and Carmody2 That might lead said group to lean on looking for pneumothorax before any other condition that could lead to shock. This could be another explanation for why the “US intervention” group spotted pneumothorax before the control group and not any superiority of one group over another at arriving to the correct diagnosis.

Although the researchers specifically mentioned the diagnosis of tension pneumothorax, there is no different approach for POCUS with simple pneumothorax.

Nevertheless; today we knew that POCUS made diagnoses more accurate and faster in the emergency department, but showing the effect on prehospital management is equally important for better patient care. Reference Atkinson, Bowra, Lambert, Lamprecht, Noble and Jarman3 For that, we would like to thank the authors for their contribution to the literature.

Conflicts of interest

none

References

Khalil, PA, Merelman, A, Riccio, J, et al. Randomized controlled trial of point-of-care ultrasound education for the recognition of tension pneumothorax by paramedics in prehospital simulation. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2021;36(1):74–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Husain, LF, Hagopian, L, Wayman, D, Baker, WE, Carmody, KA. Sonographic diagnosis of pneumothorax. J Emerg Trauma Shock. 2012;5(1):76–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Atkinson, P, Bowra, J, Lambert, M, Lamprecht, H, Noble, V, Jarman, B. International Federation for Emergency Medicine Point-of-Care Ultrasound Curriculum. Can J Emerg Med. 2015;17(2):161–170.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed