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Sepsis is a medical emergency and therefore requires early identification and immediate management, which is not a matter of hours, but minutes. Since the first definition in 1991, sepsis remains a major challenge for clinicians and scientists. Despite significant advances in technology and therapy, mortality and cost of treatment are unacceptably high. Septic shock is the leading cause of mortality in critically ill patients. Cognitive impairment and functional disability were observed after survivors’ long-term follow-up. Since its foundation in 2002, Surviving Sepsis Campaign aims to implement global strategies and to raise awareness of the challenges associated with sepsis. The implementation of guidelines and sepsis care bundles resulted in significant decrease in mortality. Hospital mortality is lower in hospitals with high versus low bundle compliance. Still, epidemiological data for sepsis are missing for low- and middleincome countries.

Introduction/Objective. The aim of this study was to determine independent predictors and the best trauma scoring system (REMS, RTS, GSC, SOFA, APPACHE II) of in-hospital mortality in patients with severe trauma at the Department of Emergency, Emergency Center, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade. Methods. Longitudinal study included 208 consecutive patients with severe trauma. In order to determine independent survival contributors, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed. The power of above-mentioned scoring systems (measured at admission to the Emergency center) to predict mortality was compared using the area under the curve (AUC). Results. There were 208 patients (159 male, 49 female), with the average age of 47.3 ± 20.7 years. Majority of patients were initially intubated (86.1%) on admission to the emergency department, and 59.6% patients were sedated before intubation. After finishing of diagnostic procedures, 17 patients were additionally intubated, and, at that time, 94.2% patients were on mechanic ventilation. The majority of patients was traumatized in a car crash (33.2%), followed by falls from height (26.4%) and as pedestrians (22.6%). Patients had an average of 24.7 ± 21.2 days spent in intensive care unit. The overall case-fatality ratio was 17/208 (8.2%). In Cox regression analysis only elevated heart rate (HR = 1.03, p = 0.012) and decreased arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) (HR = 0.91, p = 0.033) singled out as independent contributors to in-hospital mortality of patients with severe trauma. REMS (AUC 0.72 ± 0.64) and SOFA (AUC 0.716 ± 0.067) scores were found fair and similar predictor of in-hospital mortality, while APACHE II (AUC 0.614 ± 0.062) and RTS (0.396 ± 0.068) were poor predictors. Conclusion. Results of this study showed an important role of REMS, which appears to provide balance between the predictive ability and the practical application, and components of REMS in prediction of outcome in patients with severe trauma and that HR and SpO2 are independent predictors of in-hospital mortality.

Introduction. In relation to pre-hospital treatment of patients with cardiac arrest (CA) in the field where resuscitation is often started by nonprofessionals, resuscitation in hospital is most commonly performed by well-trained personnel. Objective. The aim was to define the factors associated with an improved outcome among patients suffering from the inhospital CA (IHCA). Methods. The prospective study included a total of 100 patients in the Emergency Center over two-year period. The patterns by the Utstein-Style guidelines recorded the following: age, sex, reason for hospital admission, comorbidity, cause and origin of CA, continuous monitoring, time of arrival of the medical emergency team and time of delivery of the first defibrillation shock (DC). Results. Most patients (61%) had cardiac etiology. Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) was achieved in 58% of patients. ROSC was more frequently achieved in younger patients (57.69±11.37), (p

Introduction. Hemangioma is the most frequent benign solid tumor of the liver. It is well known that a giant liver hemangioma carries the risk of spontaneous rupture, followed by hemoperitoneum and hemorrhagic shock with possible fatal outcome. Case Outline. This is a case report of the spontaneous rupture of a giant cavernous hemangioma of the liver in an 85-year old patient. The patient was presented with abdominal pain and hemorrhagic shock. Emergency ultrasonography and computed tomography of the abdomen showed a heterogeneous ruptured solid tumor of the right liver lobe, multiple cysts in the left lobe and massive hemoperitoneum. The patient was successfully managed by immediate exploratory laparotomy, surgical enucleation of the hemangioma under intermittent inflow vascular occlusion, temporary perihepatic packing and planned second look relaparotomy. Conclusion. Immediate surgical procedure is indicated mandatory in unstable patients with a ruptured giant hemangioma of the liver. Surgical enucleation under intermittent inflow vascular occlusion and temporary perihepatic packing could be a life-saving procedure in those patients.

Cognitive dysfunctions are relatively common in postoperative and critically ill patients. This complication not only compromises recovery after surgery, but, if persistent, it minimizes and compromises surgery itself. Risk factors of postoperative cognitive disorders can be divided into age and comorbidity dependent, and those related to anesthesia and surgery. Cardiovascular, orthopedic and urologic surgery carries high risk of postoperative cognitive dysfunction. It can also occur in other types of surgical treatment, especially in elderly. Among risk factors of cognitive disorders, associated with comorbidity, underlying psychiatric and neurological disorders, substance abuse and conditions with elevation of intracranial pressure are in the first place in postoperative patients. Preoperative and perioperative predisposing conditions for cognitive dysfunction and their incidence were described in our paper. These are: geriatric patients, patients with substance abuse, preexisting psychiatric or cognitive disorders, neurologic disease with high intracranial pressure, cerebrovascular insufficiency, epilepsia, preeclampsia, acute intermittent porphyria, operation type, brain hypoxia, changes in blood glucose level, electrolyte imbalance, anesthetic agents, adjuvant medication and intraoperative awareness. For each of these factors, evaluation, prevention and treatment strategies were suggested, with special regard on anesthetic technique.

Acute biliary diseases have become the most common indication for major abdominal surgery. We investigated 60 patients who underwent surgery for the acute biliary diseases, within 48 hours from the onset of the illness (group I), and over longer preoperative interval (48 h up to 5 days) (group II). Surgical specimen (gallbladder) was histologically examined. Samples for microbiological exams were obtained from gallbladder, common bile duct, Lund's node, gallbladder bed and peritoneal cavity. Positive bile cultures were found in 43% of group I, and in 70% of group II (p