Emergency cricothyrotomy for trismus caused by instantaneous rigor in cardiac arrest patients

Abstract Instantaneous rigor as muscle stiffening occurring in the moment of death (or cardiac arrest) can be confused with rigor mortis. If trismus is caused by instantaneous rigor, orotracheal intubation is impossible and a surgical airway should be secured. Here, we report 2 patients who had emer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The American journal of emergency medicine Vol. 30; no. 6; pp. 1014.e1 - 1014.e2
Main Authors:	Lee, Jae Hee, Jung, Koo Young
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Elsevier Inc 01-07-2012 Elsevier Limited
Subjects:	Adult Aged Cardiac arrest Emergency Emergency medical care Emergency Service, Hospital Fatal Outcome Female Heart Arrest - complications Humans Male Tracheostomy - methods Trismus - etiology Trismus - surgery
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Abstract Instantaneous rigor as muscle stiffening occurring in the moment of death (or cardiac arrest) can be confused with rigor mortis. If trismus is caused by instantaneous rigor, orotracheal intubation is impossible and a surgical airway should be secured. Here, we report 2 patients who had emergency cricothyrotomy for trismus caused by instantaneous rigor. This case report aims to help physicians understand instantaneous rigor and to emphasize the importance of securing a surgical airway quickly on the occurrence of trismus.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Case Study-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-4 content type line 23 ObjectType-Report-1 ObjectType-Article-3
ISSN:	0735-6757 1532-8171
DOI:	10.1016/j.ajem.2011.04.004