INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Adequate tissue perfusion depends on maintenance of volume status, vascular resistance, cardiac contractility, and cardiac rhythm. All of these components of the hemodynamic system are vulnerable…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen The aggressive and/or violent patient presents unique challenges. Like suicidal patients, aggressive individuals are difficult to treat and they tend to elicit strong negative reactions in…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen In the central nervous system (CNS), excitatory neurons fire regularly, and inhibitory neurons inhibit the transmission of these impulses. Whenever action is required, the inhibitory tone…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Psychiatric symptoms are often the cause of, or the effect of many toxicologic-presentations. Suicide attempts and aggressive behaviors are commonly associated with toxicity and can be…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen The central nervous system (CNS) coordinates responses to the fluctuating metabolic requirements of the body and modulates behavior, memory, and higher levels of thinking. These functions…
CASE STUDY 5 Print Section Listen History Parents called 911 because they found their 5-year-old girl at home unresponsive. Shortly before emergency medical services (EMS) arrived, the girl had a…
CASE STUDY 4 Print Section Listen History A 32-year-old woman with no significant past medical history presented to the emergency department with a 2-day history of a painless, rapidly expanding…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Xenobiotics are compounds that are foreign to a living system. Toxic xenobiotics interfere with critical metabolic processes, cause structural damage to cells, or alter cellular genetic…
HISTORY AND CURRENT USE Print Section Listen Applying a xenobiotic to the skin to treat a systemic medical condition is not new. Ointments and other salves have been applied topically…
CASE STUDY 3 Print Section Listen History A 54-year-old man presented to the emergency department (ED) complaining that he was weak, dizzy, and felt as if he was about to…
