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Radial artery injury by a cat fish (Pangasius sutchi) spine sting

Ahmad R, Zaini IZ, Mohamed NA, Roslanuddin MS

Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health, 2013 Jul 4;44(4):703-6.
PMID: 24050106

Peripheral vascular injuries result from penetrating or blunt trauma to the extremities. We describe here an unusual cause of a radial artery injury by the spine from the pectoral fin of Pangasius sutchi in a 51 year-old man and we review the literature.
Fulltext Evaluation of acute asthma management among emergency doctors using simulation-based assessment

Nagaretnam B, Md Jamal S, Abu Bakar A, Zaini IZ, Saiboon IM

Medicine (Baltimore), 2023 Jul 14;102(28):e34095.
PMID: 37443513 DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000034095

Assessment of asthma management competency using conventional methods remains challenging. This study aimed to explore the baseline knowledge, diagnosis accuracy and clinical management accuracy of acute asthma among emergency doctors using simulation-based assessment. We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 65 emergency department medical officers at a tertiary center. Participants were evaluated using 2 components: knowledge assessment of acute asthma and clinical performance assessment. Knowledge was evaluated using a standardized knowledge questionnaire. Clinical performance in managing acute asthma was assessed using a simulated acute asthma scenario and a standardized asthma management checklist using real-time assessments. The mean knowledge score was 14.69 ± 2.16. No significant differences were found in diagnosis and management accuracy in relation to knowledge (H = 0.644, P = .725, df = 6; H = 1.337, P = .512, df = 2). Acute-asthma attacks of all severities were poorly assessed, with accuracies of 27.3, 41.9, and 20.1% in mild, moderate, severe, and life-threatening cases, respectively. However, all participants provided high-quality treatment (accuracy = 82.3%) regardless of severity. Knowledge score does not influence the ability to differentiate asthma severity and management accuracy according to established asthma guidelines. The overall treatment accuracy was high, regardless of the severity of asthma. However, assessment of acute asthma requires further refinement.
An observational study on the impact of overcrowding towards door-to-antibiotic time among sepsis patients presented to emergency department of a tertiary academic hospital

Chau EYW, Bakar AA, Zamhot AB, Zaini IZ, Binti Adanan SN, Sabardin DMB

BMC Emerg Med, 2024 Apr 12;24(1):58.
PMID: 38609924 DOI: 10.1186/s12873-024-00973-4

BACKGROUND: The latest Surviving Sepsis Campaign 2021 recommends early antibiotics administration. However, Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding can delay sepsis management. This study aimed to determine the effect of ED overcrowding towards the management and outcome of sepsis patients presented to ED.
METHODS: This was an observational study conducted among sepsis patients presented to ED of a tertiary university hospital from 18th January 2021 until 28th February 2021. ED overcrowding status was determined using the National Emergency Department Overcrowding Score (NEDOCS) scoring system. Sepsis patients were identified using Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores and their door-to-antibiotic time (DTA) were recorded. Patient outcomes were hospital length of stay (LOS) and in-hospital mortality. Statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. P-value of less than 0.05 for a two-sided test was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS: Total of 170 patients were recruited. Among them, 33 patients presented with septic shock and only 15% (n = 5) received antibiotics within one hour. Of 137 sepsis patients without shock, 58.4% (n = 80) received antibiotics within three hours. We found no significant association between ED overcrowding with DTA time (p = 0.989) and LOS (p = 0.403). However, in-hospital mortality increased two times during overcrowded ED (95% CI 1-4; p = 0.041).
CONCLUSION: ED overcrowding has no significant impact on DTA and LOS which are crucial indicators of sepsis care quality but it increases overall mortality outcome. Further research is needed to explore other factors such as lack of resources, delay in initiating fluid resuscitation or vasopressor so as to improve sepsis patient care during ED overcrowding.
Fulltext Prevalence of Anxiety and Burnout, and Coping Mechanisms among Clinical Year Medical Undergraduate Students in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Tee KR, Ismail AS, Ang YH, Hishamuddin HH, Paul VJ, Aizuddin AN, et al.

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2022 Oct 11;19(20).
PMID: 36293589 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192013010

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of anxiety and burnout, and the coping mechanisms among clinical year undergraduate medical students in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In total, 378 clinical year undergraduate medical students in UKM participated in this cross-sectional study from May to July 2021. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of questions on the participant's sociodemographic data and items from the DASS-21, CBI, and Brief-COPE was distributed. Chi-square and Spearman's correlation tests were used to calculate the correlation coefficient between both anxiety and burnout, and coping mechanisms. The prevalence of anxiety and burnout were 44.2% and 22.2%, respectively. There was a significant difference in the percentage of students with extremely severe anxiety in the presence and absence of burnout, 23.8% vs. 4.8% (p < 0.001). Among the three coping mechanisms, avoidant coping had a significant positive moderate correlation with both the presence of anxiety (r = 0.3966, p < 0.001) and the presence of burnout (r = 0.341, p < 0.001). Meanwhile, coping that was neither approach nor avoidant had a positive weak correlation with the presence of burnout (r = 0.176, p = 0.001). The prevalence of anxiety and burnout was concerning. Increased anxiety and burnout among students may negatively impact aspects of their personal, professional, and academic lives. Early recognition and preventive measures should be emphasised to prevent negative ramifications.
Fulltext CD64 and Group II Secretory Phospholipase A2 (sPLA2-IIA) as Biomarkers for Distinguishing Adult Sepsis and Bacterial Infections in the Emergency Department

Tan TL, Ahmad NS, Nasuruddin DN, Ithnin A, Tajul Arifin K, Zaini IZ, et al.

PLoS One, 2016;11(3):e0152065.
PMID: 27003588 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152065

INTRODUCTION: Early diagnosis of sepsis and bacterial infection is imperative as treatment relies on early antibiotic administration. There is a need to develop new biomarkers to detect patients with sepsis and bacterial infection as early as possible, thereby enabling prompt antibiotic treatment and improving the survival rate.
METHODS: Fifty-one adult patients with suspected bacterial sepsis on admission to the Emergency Department (ED) of a teaching hospital were included into the study. All relevant cultures and serology tests were performed. Serum levels for Group II Secretory Phospholipase A2 (sPLA2-IIA) and CD64 were subsequently analyzed.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Sepsis was confirmed in 42 patients from a total of 51 recruited subjects. Twenty-one patients had culture-confirmed bacterial infections. Both biomarkers were shown to be good in distinguishing sepsis from non-sepsis groups. CD64 and sPLA2-IIA also demonstrated a strong correlation with early sepsis diagnosis in adults. The area under the curve (AUC) of both Receiver Operating Characteristic curves showed that sPLA2-IIA was better than CD64 (AUC = 0.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.83-0.97 and AUC = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.82-0.99, respectively). The optimum cutoff value was 2.13μg/l for sPLA2-IIA (sensitivity = 91%, specificity = 78%) and 45 antigen bound cell (abc) for CD64 (sensitivity = 81%, specificity = 89%). In diagnosing bacterial infections, sPLA2-IIA showed superiority over CD64 (AUC = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.85-0.96, and AUC = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.93-1.00, respectively). The optimum cutoff value for bacterial infection was 5.63μg/l for sPLA2-IIA (sensitivity = 94%, specificity = 94%) and 46abc for CD64 (sensitivity = 94%, specificity = 83%).
CONCLUSIONS: sPLA2-IIA showed superior performance in sepsis and bacterial infection diagnosis compared to CD64. sPLA2-IIA appears to be an excellent biomarker for sepsis screening and for diagnosing bacterial infections, whereas CD64 could be used for screening bacterial infections. Both biomarkers either alone or in combination with other markers may assist in decision making for early antimicrobial administration. We recommend incorporating sPLA2-IIA and CD64 into the diagnostic algorithm of sepsis in ED.
Fulltext Demographic and clinical characteristics of red tag patients and their one-week mortality rate from the emergency department of the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia

Ahmad R, Rahmat R, Hisamudin N, Rahman NA, Noh AY, Mohammad N, et al.

Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health, 2009 Nov;40(6):1322-30.
PMID: 20578468

Early identification and rapid treatment of red tag patients may decrease morbidity and mortality. We examined the clinical characteristics, etiologies and one week mortality rate of red tag (life threatening and potentially life threatening illness) patients at the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysai (HUSM). A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Emergency Department of the HUSM from 1 August 2006 to 31 January 2007; 440 eligible patients were analyzed. The group had a mean age of 47.2 +/- 22 years, with 67.3% of the patients being male. Twenty-three percent were trauma cases with motor vehicle accident being the major mechanism of injury. Fifty-four percent of the cases had cardiac related illnesses. The mean duration of stay in the Emergency Department (ED) was 3.9 +/- 1.5 hours. The survival rate at one week was 76.6%. The non-trauma group comprised 74.0% of death cases. Acute coronary syndrome and road traffic accidents comprised 22.0% of total death cases at one week. Red tag patients constitute a large proportion of ED cases and may remain in the ED for significant periods of time.

Study site: Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM)
Fulltext An Amperometric Biosensor for the Determination of Bacterial Sepsis Biomarker, Secretory Phospholipase Group 2-IIA Using a Tri-Enzyme System

Nik Mansor NN, Leong TT, Safitri E, Futra D, Ahmad NS, Nasuruddin DN, et al.

Sensors (Basel), 2018 Feb 26;18(3).
PMID: 29495352 DOI: 10.3390/s18030686

A tri-enzyme system consisting of choline kinase/choline oxidase/horseradish peroxidase was used in the rapid and specific determination of the biomarker for bacterial sepsis infection, secretory phospholipase Group 2-IIA (sPLA2-IIA). These enzymes were individually immobilized onto the acrylic microspheres via succinimide groups for the preparation of an electrochemical biosensor. The reaction of sPLA2-IIA with its substrate initiated a cascading enzymatic reaction in the tri-enzyme system that led to the final production of hydrogen peroxide, which presence was indicated by the redox characteristics of potassium ferricyanide, K₃Fe(CN)₆. An amperometric biosensor based on enzyme conjugated acrylic microspheres and gold nanoparticles composite coated onto a carbon-paste screen printed electrode (SPE) was fabricated and the current measurement was performed at a low potential of 0.20 V. This enzymatic biosensor gave a linear range 0.01-100 ng/mL (R² = 0.98304) with a detection limit recorded at 5 × 10-3 ng/mL towards sPLA2-IIA. Moreover, the biosensor showed good reproducibility (relative standard deviation (RSD) of 3.04% (n = 5). The biosensor response was reliable up to 25 days of storage at 4 °C. Analysis of human serum samples for sPLA2-IIA indicated that the biosensor has potential for rapid bacterial sepsis diagnosis in hospital emergency department.
Fulltext A multicenter controlled trial on knowledge and attitude about cardiopulmonary resuscitation among secondary school children in Malaysia

Rahman NH, Keng Sheng C, Kamauzaman TH, Md Noh AY, Wahab SF, Zaini IZ, et al.

Int J Emerg Med, 2013;6(1):37.
PMID: 24135122 DOI: 10.1186/1865-1380-6-37

We performed a multicenter controlled trial to assess the knowledge and attitude (KA) about cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) among secondary school children in a district in Malaysia.