Introduction: The erector spinae plane block (ESPB) has been described as an effective analgesic modality in the emergency department (ED) for thoracic pain. It has not previously been described to treat ED patients with pain in the upper extremity. 

Case Report: We present a case of a 52-year-old female who presented to the ED with an acute exacerbation of her chronic radicular left arm pain originating after a fall she sustained one year prior. After a variety of analgesic modalities failed to control her pain, an ESPB was used to successfully treat her pain and facilitate discharge from the ED. 

Conclusion: A significant portion of patients who present to the ED have underlying chronic pain; however, opioids are a potentially dangerous and ineffective modality to treat chronic pain. In addition to avoiding opiates, the ESPB has the advantage of preserving motor function, thus avoiding the complications associated with brachial plexus blockade.

Objectives: Law enforcement and military personnel use electronic control devices to control non-compliant and actively resistive subjects. The TASER® Shockwave is a new electronic control device designed specifically as an area denial device capable of delivering multiple simultaneous discharges. This is the first study to examine the effects of multiple simultaneous device discharges in humans.

Methods: Volunteers were exposed to multiple (two to three), simultaneous 5-second discharges from the Shockwave device to the chest, back, chest to abdomen, or thighs. Blood was analyzed before and after discharge for pH, lactate, potassium, creatine kinase (CK), and troponin. Continuous spirometry was performed before, during, and after the discharge. In addition, electrocardiograms (ECGs) before and after discharge were recorded, and echocardiography was used to determine the rhythm during discharge.

Results: Small elevations of lactate occurred. Moderate increases in CK at 24 hours occurred and appeared to be related to the number of simultaneous discharges. There was a trend to a decrease in minute ventilation in the volunteers exposed to two simultaneous discharges, but it did not reach statistical significance. ECG changes only reflected an increase in vagal tone, and there was no evidence of capture by echocardiography. Five-second, simultaneous, multiple exposures to the TASER Shockwave device were reasonably tolerated by our human volunteers.

Conclusion: Our study suggests that this device may have a reasonable risk/benefit ratio when used to protect an area from a threat. [West J Emerg Med. 2010; 11(1):49-56].

Introduction: Sudden, unexpected arrest-related death (ARD) has been associated with drug abuse, extreme delirium or certain police practices. There is insufficient surveillance and causation data available. We report 12 months of surveillance data using a novel data collection methodology.

Methods: We used an open-source, prospective method to collect 12 consecutive months of data, including demographics, behavior, illicit substance use, control methods used, and time of collapse after law enforcement contact. Descriptive analysis and chi-square testing were applied.

Results: There were 162 ARD events reported that met inclusion criteria. The majority were male with mean age 36 years, and involved bizarre, agitated behavior and reports of drug abuse just prior to death. Law enforcement control techniques included none (14%); empty-hand techniques (69%); intermediate weapons such as TASER device, impact weapon or chemical irritant spray (52%); and deadly force (12%). Time from contact to subject collapse included instantaneous (13%), within the first hour (53%) and 1-48 hours (35%). Significant collapse time associations occurred with the use of certain intermediate weapons.

Conclusion: This surveillance report can be a foundation for discussing ARD. These data support the premise that ARDs primarily occur in persons with a certain demographic and behavior profile that includes middle-aged males exhibiting agitated, bizarre behavior generally following illicit drug abuse. Collapse time associations were demonstrated with the use of TASER devices and impact weapons. We recommend further study in this area to validate our data collection method and findings. [WestJEM. 2009;10:68-73.]

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