Single injection volar digital nerve block technique is a suitable alternative for digital anesthesias in emergency departments.

Drug-induced hepatotoxicity is a major cause of hepatocellular injury in patients admitting to emergency services with acute liver failure. Hepatic necrosis may be at varying degrees from mild elevations in transaminases to fulminant hepatitis, and even death. The case of a 53-year-old female patient with toxic hepatitis due to levofloxacin and multiple organ failure secondary to toxic hepatitis is presented. Patient suffered itching, redness, and rash after receiving a single dose of 750 mg of levofloxacin tablets for pulmonary infection 10 days ago. Skin lesions had regressed within 3 days, but desquamation formed all over the body. After the fifth day of drug intake, complaints of abdominal pain, vomiting, and yellowing in skin color had started. The patient was referred to our emergency department with these complaints 10 days after drug intake. Patient was thought as a candidate for liver transplant, but cardiopulmonary arrest occurred, and the patient died before she could be referred to a transplant center. This case is important because hepatotoxicity and death due to levofloxacin is uncommon in the literature.

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Objective: We aimed to present inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter as a guiding method for detection of relationship between IVC diameter measured noninvasively with the help of ultrasonography (USG) and central venous pressure (CVP) and evaluation of patient's intravascular volume status. Methods: Patients over the age of 18, to whom a central venous catheter was inserted to their subclavian vein or internal jugular vein were included in our study. IVC diameter measurements were recorded in millimeters following measurement by the same clinician with the help of USG both at the end-inspiratory and end-expiratory phase. CVP measurements were viewed on the monitor by means of piezoelectric transducer and recorded in mmHg. SPSS 18.0 package program was used for statistical analysis of data. Results: Forty five patients were included in the study. The patients had the diagnosis of malignancy (35.6%), sepsis (13.3%), pneumonia, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (11.1%). 11 patients (24.4%) required mechanical ventilation while 34 (75.6%) patients had spontaneous respiration. In patients with spontaneous respiration, a significant relationship was found between IVC diameters measured by ultrasonography at the end of expiratory and inspiratory phases and measured CVP values at the same phases (for expiratory p = 0.002, for inspiratory p= 0.001). There was no statistically significant association between IVC diameters measured by ultrasonography at the end of expiration and inspiration and measured CVP values at the same phases in mechanically ventilated patients. Conclusions: IVC diameter measured by bedside ultrasonography can be used for determination of the intravascular volume status of the patients with spontaneous respiration.

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Background/aim: The aims of this study were to investigate the significance of oxidative stress parameters in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke and to investigate their effects on stroke severity using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS).Materials and methods: A total of 92 patients, including 74 with ischemic stroke and 18 with hemorrhagic stroke, and 75 volunteers were enrolled in the study. Total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS), paraoxonase, stimulating paraoxonase, arylesterase, and thiol levels were measured in both the patient and volunteer groups. NIHSS and oxidative stress index (OSI) scores were calculated.Results: TOS and OSI levels were significantly higher in the ischemia and hemorrhagic stroke groups than in the control group (P < 0.05). Arylesterase and thiol levels were significantly lower in the ischemia group than the control group (P < 0.05). No significant correlation was found between NIHSS score and TAS, TOS, OSI, paraoxonase, arylesterase, stimulated paraoxonase, and thiol levels (P > 0.05). Conclusion:Oxidative stress may play a role in the pathogenesis of both ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke in terms of oxidants. We do not think that oxidative stress has any effect in determining stroke severity in either type of stroke.

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