Core conditions 2 Flashcards
Wound healing
- Haemostasis: vasoconstriction and activation of the coagulation cascade to prevent further bleeding
- Inflammation: neutrophils, macrophages and a range of other cell types enter the wound to maintain its cleanliness and attract other cell types
- Cell proliferation: granulation tissue provides a scaffold for the formation of new blood vessels (re-vascularisation)
- Epithelialisation: epithelial cells migrate from the wound edges to cover the wound defect
- Tissue remodelling: iterative breakdown and rebuilding of the wound’s extracellular matrix resulting in gradual improvement in the tensile strength of the wound
Colours of a wound
- Pink (epithelialisation phase)
- Red (granulation/proliferation phase)
- Yellow (sloughy/granulation phase)
- Black (necrotic tissue/eschar)
- Wounds with signs of infection (e.g. offensive smell, excess pus, spreading erythema
Cleaning the wound
- Disinfect around the wound with antiseptic
- Keep hair out of wound
- If debriding anaesthetize the area
- Clean out foreign material
- Irrigate the area with saline, drinking water or cooled boiled water
- Dress but don’t close the wound
Antibiotics for an open wound
- Contaminated: co-amiclav
- If allergic to penicillin use erythromycin or clarithromycin combined with metronidazole
- 7-10 days of antibiotics
- For wounds with no contamination or foreign bodies use flucloxacillin, if allergic use erythromycin or clarithromycin
- Take swab before starting treatment
When to give human tetanus immunoglobulins
- Wounds that require surgical intervention that is delayed for more than six hours.
- Wounds that show a significant degree of devitalised tissue or a puncture-type injury, particularly where there has been contact with material likely to contain tetanus spores (for example soil or manure).
- Wounds containing foreign bodies.
- Compound fractures.
- Wounds in people who have systemic sepsis.
Give tetanus booster unless fully immunised
What are the two pathways of incident reporting
- Information governance and cyber security incidents
- Health and safety incidents
What are the three types of incidents
Near misses
Incidents
Serious incidents
What are usually the 2 main symptoms of palliative patients
Pain
Difficulty breathing
Confusion screen investigations
Bloods: FBC, U&Es, LFTs, Coagulation/INR, TFTs, Calcium, B12 + folate, Glucose, Blood cultures
Urinalysis
Imaging: CT head, CXR
What are anticipatory medications
Medications to keep a patient comfortable while they are dying
Key anticipatory meds
Pain: Morphine – SC or PO.
Agitation, N+V: Haloperidol – Antipsychotic in agitated delirium.
Agitation, anxiety: Midazolam – BZD can be trialled if very anxious. Do not use opioids as sedation.
N+V: Levomepromazine or cyclizine – used mostly in end of life sickness and agitation
Secretions: hyoscine butylbromide
What are the different levels a patient can be triaged to after coming into the emergency department using the Manchester triage score
Walk in and see
Ambulatory care
High intensity monitoring
Resus
What are the 5 urgency categories in the manchester triage system
Blue- such bad condition that its not worth allocating recources
Green- vomiting, recent mild pain and recent problem
Yellow- pleuritic pain, persistent vomiting, significant cardiac Hx or moderate pain
Orange- severe pain, cardiac pain, acute SOB and abnormal pulse
Red- airway compromise, inadequate breathing and shock
Which patients need further risk assessment for VTE risk after assessing level of mobility on admission?
All surgical patients and medical patients with significantly reduced mobility
What are the patient-related risk factors for thrombosis included in the risk assessment?
Acute cancer or cancer treatment
>60
Dehydration
Known thrombophilias
BMI>30
1+ significant medical comorbidities
PMH or FH VTE
HRT, oestrogen-containing contraceptives
Varicose veins with phlebitis
Pregnant or <6w postpartum
What are the admission related thrombosis risk factors
Significantly reduced mobility for 3+ days
Hip or knee replacement
Hip fracture
Anaesthetic and surgery >90 mins
Surgery involving the pelvis/lower limb with a total anaesthetic and surgery time >60 mins
Acute surgical admission with inflammatory or intra-abdominal condition
Critical care admission
Surgery with significant reduction in mobility
What are the patient related risk factors for bleeding included in the VTW risk assessment
Active bleeding
Acquired bleeding disorders (eg. acute liver failure)
Concurrent use of anticoagulants known to cause bleeding risk (eg. warfarin)
Acute stroke
Thrombocytopenia
Uncontrolled systolic hypertension (230/120)
Untreated inherited bleeding disorder
What are the admission related risk factors for bleeding included in the VTE risk assessment
Neurosurgery
Spinal surgery
Eye surgery
Procedure with high bleeding risk
LP/epidural/spinal anaesthesia in the previous 4 hours
What 3 parts are included in the MUST score
Height and weight to get BMI
% unplanned weight loss
acute disease effect score
Identifies adults that are malnourished, at risk of malnourishment or obese
In the MUST score what gives a patient 2 for the acute disease effect score?
If patient is acutely ill and there has been or is likely to be no nutritional intake for >5 days
What are the different BMI scores in the MUST tool
> 20 = 0
18.5-20 = 1
<18.5 = 2
A high MUST score is 2 or more
What NEWS score indicates sepsis risk
5 or more