Introduction:Medical responders are at-risk of experiencing a wide range of negative psychological health conditions following a disaster.Aim:Published literature was reviewed on the adverse psychological health outcomes in medical responders to various disasters and mass casualties in order to: (1) assess the psychological impact of disasters on medical responders; and (2) identify the possible risk factors associated with psychological impacts on medical responders.Methods:A literature search of PubMed, Discovery Service, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Cochrane databases for studies on the prevalence/risk factors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental disorders in medical responders of disasters and mass casualties was carried out using pre-determined keywords. Two reviewers screened the 3,545 abstracts and 28 full-length articles which were included for final review.Results:Depression and PTSD were the most studied outcomes in medical responders. Nurses reported higher levels of adverse outcomes than physicians. Lack of social support and communication, maladaptive coping, and lack of training were important risk factors for developing negative psychological outcomes across all types of disasters.Conclusions:Disasters have significant adverse effects on the mental well-being of medical responders. The prevalence rates and presumptive risk factors varied among three different types of disasters. There are certain high-risk, vulnerable groups among medical responders, as well as certain risk factors for adverse psychological outcomes. Adapting preventive measures and mitigation strategies aimed at high-risk groups would be beneficial in decreasing negative outcomes.

Perforation of a duodenal ulcer (DU) into the retroperitoneal space presenting with clinical features of acute appendicitis is known as Valentino's syndrome. Post duodenal perforation, the gastric and duodenal fluids tend to settle in the right paracolic gutter causing peritonitis and clinically mimicking acute appendicitis. Only three cases of Valentino's syndrome have been reported till date in the published literature and there is only one previous report of its preoperative imaging diagnosis. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of preoperative imaging diagnosis in a surgically confirmed case of Valentino's syndrome. In most cases, patients with undiagnosed Valentino's syndrome are operated for acute appendicitis, and on finding a normal appendix, search is made for the cause of peritonitis, which then leads to retroperitoneal perforation of duodenum. The diagnosis of Valentino's syndrome by computed tomography (CT) imaging is easy and can help in avoiding the surgery or directing the surgeon directly to the repair of the duodenal perforation. It is, therefore, essential for emergency physicians, surgeons, and radiologists to know about this entity and consider it in the differential diagnosis.

As the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues across the globe, more details about the disease manifestations and clinical course have been emerging. The main clinical presentation of the ongoing coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic is respiratory symptoms. Along with this, the involvement of the gastrointestinal system and associated symptoms have also been reported. Here we present a case of a 58-yearold patient who presented with acute abdominal pain and was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. He did not have any respiratory symptoms, but had radiological evidence of lung involvement and was diagnosed to be positive for COVID-19.

Background: Fever is a common problem in adults visiting the emergency department. Extensive studies have been done in children comparing the efficacy of various antipyretics. However, studies on the efficacy of antipyretic drugs in adults are very scarce. To the best of our knowledge, no controlled trial has been carried out comparing the antipyretic efficacy of paracetamol (oral and intravenous) and intramuscular diclofenac in adults. Methods: In this parallel-group, open-label trial, participants aged 14-75 years presenting with fever who had a temperature of more than 38.5°C were enrolled and treated. Participants were randomly allocated to receive treatment with 1,000 mg oral paracetamol (n = 145), 1,000 mg intravenous paracetamol (n = 139), or 75 mg intramuscular diclofenac (n = 150). The primary outcome was degree of reduction in mean oral temperature at 90 minutes. The efficacy of diclofenac versus oral and intravenous paracetamol was assessed by superiority comparison. Analysis was done using intention to treat principles. Results: After 90 minutes, all three groups showed a significant reduction in mean temperature, with intramuscular diclofenac showing the greatest reduction (−1.44 ± 0.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] −1.4 to −2.5) and oral paracetamol the least (−1.08 ± 0.51, 95% CI −0.99 to −2.2). After 120 minutes, there was a significant difference observed in the mean change from baseline temperature between the three treatment groups (P , 0.0001). Significant changes in temperature were observed in favor of intramuscular diclofenac over oral and intravenous paracetamol at each time point from 60 minutes through 120 minutes inclusive. Conclusion: Both intramuscular diclofenac and intravenous paracetamol showed superior antipyretic activity than oral paracetamol. However, in view of its ease of administration, intramuscular diclofenac can be used as a first-choice antipyretic in febrile adults in the emergency department.

Wunderlich syndrome is a rare clinical syndrome characterized by the sudden onset of spontaneous, nontraumatic hemorrhage into renal subcapsular and retroperitoneal region. We present the case of a 24-year-old hypertensive who presented with acute flank pain and was found to have perinephric hematoma. He was managed conservatively and the follow-up revealed complete resolution of the hematoma with no structural abnormality of kidney. His connective tissue disorder/vasculitis work up was also normal.

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ObjectiveTo compare the patient profile and outcomes in Qatar during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.SettingA retrospective observational study was conducted comparing the demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with COVID-19 infection admitted to a secondary care hospital, during the first and second waves of the pandemic.Participants1039 patients from the first wave and 991 from the second wave who had pneumonia on chest X-ray and had a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection by a real-time PCR test of a nasopharyngeal swab were included. Patients with a normal chest X-ray and those who had a negative PCR test despite a positive COVID-19 antigen test were excluded.OutcomeLength of stay, need for mechanical ventilation, final disposition and mortality were the key outcomes studiedResultsInfluenza like symptoms (18.5% in the first wave vs 36.1% in the second wave, p 0.001), cough (79.2% vs 87%, p<0.001) and dyspnoea (27.5% vs 38% p<0.001) were more common in the second wave. Second wave patients had significantly higher respiratory rate, lower peripheral oxygen saturation, needed more supplemental oxygen and had higher incidence of pulmonary embolism. More patients received hydroxychloroquine and antibiotics during the first wave and more received steroids, antivirals and interleukin-1 antagonist during the second wave. The second wave had a shorter length of stay (14.58±7.75 vs 12.61±6.16, p<0.001) and more patients were discharged home (22% vs 10%, p<0.001).ConclusionsPatients who presented during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic appeared to be more ill clinically and based on their laboratory parameters. They required shorter hospitalisation and were more likely to be discharged home. This could represent greater expertise in handling such patients that was acquired during the first wave as well as use of more appropriate and combination therapies during the second wave.

Badi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0., which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.