Background: Critically ill children admitted to pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) are at increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding due to stress related mucosal injury. Reducing gastric acid by acid suppressant medication is the accepted prophylaxis treatment, but there is not any definitive guideline for using prophylaxis in PICU patients. The present study aimed to assess the effect of P...

The loss of consciousness has been a subject of wonder and uncertainty in humans, and for this reason it has been the object of medical investigation since the beginning of time. Even actually, it is certainly an unresolved clinical problem. Many centuries ago, complicated exorcisms and remedies were used on these unfortunate patients, who upon regaining consciousness would find themselves soak...

UNLABELLED What aspects of neuronal activity distinguish the conscious from the unconscious brain? This has been a subject of intense interest and debate since the early days of neurophysiology. However, as any practicing anesthesiologist can attest, it is currently not possible to reliably distinguish a conscious state from an unconscious one on the basis of brain activity. Here we approach th...

Syncope is a transient symptom characterized by a sudden loss of consciousness (including by definition concomitant loss of postural tone), with subsequent spontaneous and relatively prompt recovery. Premonitory symptoms may or may not warn of the event. In some cases there are no warning symptoms, or they are lost to recall afterward. Syncope must be differentiated from other conditions in whi...

introduction: in some intoxicated patients, cerebrospinal fluid (csf) is examined due to the prolonged loss of consciousness, focal neurologic findings, and fever of unknown origin. we aimed to evaluate the probable relationship between the different toxicity causes and the csf indices in poisoned patients and determine if they could predict the patients’ outcome. methods: all patients who had ...

Human consciousness requires brainstem, basal forebrain, and diencephalic areas to support generalized arousal, and functioning thalamocortical networks to respond to environmental and internal stimuli. Disconnection of these interconnected systems, typically from cardiac arrest and traumatic brain injury, can result in disorders of consciousness. Brain injuries can also result in loss of motor...

BACKGROUND Head trauma may present as transient loss of consciousness (TLOC) currently classified as traumatic in origin, in contrast to non-traumatic forms, such as syncope. Whether past history of syncope predisposes to loss of consciousness after head injury has been poorly studied. METHODS A retrospective analysis of data obtained from 818 consecutive patients admitted to Emergency Depart...