Tracheostomy and tetanus

Stiff person syndrome (SPS) is a specific neurological condition, as it's both rare and unique. SPS is distinguished by muscle rigidity that occurs in waves with simultaneous painful and debilitating muscular spasms. Tactile or auditory stimuli can induce spasms. On electromyographic study, the patient has continuous motor activity, very similar to tetanus. The syndrome can lead to difficulty doing essential daily tasks or even painful conditions like fractures. Apart from clinical signs, some patients have positive anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase (anti-GAD) antibodies, which can also be an excellent confirmatory test for diagnosing SPS...

Background: Spasm control is essential in the management of tetanus. Benzodiazepines are administered as initial treatment of tetanic spasms; however, sedation may be difficult to attain among patients with methamphetamine use disorder. Neuromuscular blocking agents, which act on an entire different mechanism, can be given to induce paralysis. Methods: We describe 2 cases of patients with methamphetamine use disorder who were diagnosed with severe tetanus and our experience in the use of rocuronium to control their spasms...

The aims and objectives of this study were to study clinical profile and factors affecting mortality in tetanus. This was a retrospective study of 25 tetanus patients (aged 6 months-12 years) admitted to pediatric intensive care unit of a tertiary center (over 3 years). In this study, 25 tetanus cases (mean age 6.6 years) were analyzed; 16 were males and 9 were females. Incubation period ranged from 2 to 30 days (mean 8.2 days), period of onset from 11 to 120 hours (mean 42.8 hours), and duration of spasms from 4 to 26 days (mean 14 days)...

Tetanus can lead to respiratory complications, and the outcome of dogs affected by this disease is still largely unknown. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the frequency and outcome of 53 dogs with tetanus and respiratory complications between February 2006 and January 2019. Medical records from dogs diagnosed with tetanus admitted to a referral teaching hospital were reviewed. Fifty-three dogs were diagnosed with tetanus and respiratory complications were observed in 26.4% (14/53) of dogs; 8 developed aspiration pneumonia (AP), 5 developed upper airway obstruction (UAO) and 1 dog developed both...

Tetanus is a potentially fatal infectious disease caused by the toxins produced by the anaerobic bacterium, Clostridium tetani . Of major concern during the perioperative care of these patients is control of muscle spasms, skeletal rigidity, and autonomic dysfunction. Several of the modern sedative and opioid agents including remifentanil have not been fully evaluated in managing tetanus. We present the intraoperative use of remifentanil in a 75-year-old woman with generalized tetanus who required anesthetic care during placement of a tracheostomy...

Tetanus is caused by an exotoxin, tetanospasmin, produced by Clostridium tetani , an anaerobic gram-positive bacillus.Tetanospasmin prevents the release of inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the spinal cord, brainstem motor nuclei, and the brain, producing muscle rigidity and tonic spasms.Trismus (lockjaw), dysphagia, laryngeal spasms, rigidity of limbs and paraspinal muscles, and opisthotonic posture are common.Frequent severe spasms triggered by touch, pain, bright light, or sounds may produce apnea and rhabdomyolysis...

A 78-year-old woman with no known medical history presented with severe neck pain that began 4 days prior to admission located in the paraspinal cervical region radiating to the shoulders, legs and back. She had associated stiffness of her neck and progression of pain to her jaw and throat with progression to generalised body spasms with lower extremity stiffness and weakness that limited her ability to walk. She quickly developed dysphagia and odynophagia with subsequent generalised spasms and profound hypoxic respiratory failure requiring nasotracheal intubation...

BACKGROUND: Tetanus is a vaccine-preventable, neglected disease that is life threatening if acquired and occurs most frequently in regions where vaccination coverage is incomplete. Challenges in vaccination coverage contribute to the occurrence of non-neonatal tetanus in sub-Saharan countries, with high case fatality rates. The current WHO recommendations for the management of tetanus include close patient monitoring, administration of immune globulin, sedation, analgesia, wound hygiene and airway support [1]...

PURPOSE: This study was performed to elucidate the current clinical features and outcomes of tetanus using a national inpatient database in Japan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination inpatient database to retrospectively investigate patients with tetanus from July 2010 to March 2016. We examined the patients' characteristics; the proportions of patients requiring tracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation, and tracheostomy; and the discharge status...

Objectives: To evaluate pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) needs, outcome and predictors of mortality in post-neonatal tetanus. Materials and methods: Review of 30 consecutive post-neonatal tetanus cases aged 1 months to 12 years admitted to a PICU in north India over a period of 10 years (January 2006 to December 2015). Results: Chronic suppurative otitis media was the commonest portal of entry. All received tetanus toxoid, human tetanus immunoglobulin (HTIG) and appropriate antibiotics; 7 (23...

Although the incidence of tetanus disease has radically declined in developed countries, both dental practitioners and oral and maxillofacial surgeons should be knowledgeable about its diagnosis since initial manifestations of the disease, such as trismus and dysphagia, are observed in the orofacial region. This study reports on a case of generalized tetanus diagnosed in a middle-aged man. Before the tetanus diagnosis, the patient had sought medical advice from seven different health care professionals, including a dentist and an oral and maxillofacial surgeon...

AIM: To review management of children admitted with tetanus to Starship Children's Hospital from 2000 to 2013. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of children aged 0-15 years admitted to Starship Children's Hospital with tetanus from 2000 to 2013. Follow-up of immunisation status was via the National Immunisation Register and/or phone contact with patient's primary health care provider. RESULTS: Four cases of tetanus occurred, all in unimmunised children...

Tetanus vaccination is part of the Norwegian childhood vaccination program. An elderly woman injured her arm and leg after a minor fall on her outdoor stairs. Two weeks later she presented with trismus. This developed into tetanic spasms, obstructed airways and the need for a tracheostomy. She died 14 days later due to pneumonia and multi-organ failure. ELISA for tetanus toxoid IgG was negative, probably because the patient was born before the introduction of tetanus vaccination in the Norwegian childhood vaccination program...

Tetanus is an infectious disease caused by Clostridium tetani, which manifests systemic convulsion and autonomic instability associated with high case fatality. Despite proper medical intervention, management of those symptoms is often difficult. We report a case of 67-year-old man with tetanus in which a concomitant use of dexmedetomidine, an adrenaline α-2 receptor agonist, and propofol, a GABA(A) receptor binding agent, was successful in the management of systemic convulsion and autonomic instability without necessitating conventional anticonvulsant, neuromuscular blocking agents, or tracheostomy...

Tetanus is a life-threatening disease that continues to have a high prevalence in developing countries. Severe muscle spasms often require patients to receive tracheostomy, high-dose sedatives, and sometimes prolonged neuromuscular blockade. Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) infusion has great promise as an adjunct treatment for severe tetanus, as it may allow clinicians to decrease the dose of other sedative medications. Although the mechanism of action of MgSO4 is not well understood, it appears to attenuate both the muscle spasms and autonomic instability associated with severe tetanus infections...

We analysed the data in the medical records of six patients admitted for tetanus in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the anaesthesia department in the Medical Faculty of Ataturk University from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2012. All patients received the generalized form of treatment for tetanus in the ICU. The average age of the patients was 65.33 ± 13.45 years. Treatment modalities were administered to the patients in accordance with the literature. Four patients died despite all therapeutic interventions and two patients were discharged uneventfully...

OBJECTIVE: Although tetanus is now uncommon in Oman (The Expanded Program on Immunization was introduced in 1981), patients continue to present from time to time at an average rate of 6 cases per year. Worldwide, the mortality rate for tetanus remains high (ranging from 15-20% in developed countries). At the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman, prolonged Intensive Care Unit treatment and multi-disciplinary management is invariably required for tetanus patients. This study was carried out to evaluate our results over the past decade...

Aim: To analyse demography, clinical presentation, treatment, complications and outcome of patients with tetanus over a 2-year period. Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis of medical records of all patients with tetanus admitted to the intensive care unit of B.P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal between July 2004 and June 2006. Results: Tetanus accounted for 1.1 % of our ICU admission. Eight tetanus patients (mean age 52 years; M: F ratio 7:1) were admitted. The tetanus prone wounds of seven patients were managed at home...

BACKGROUND: Tetanus remains a major health problem in the developing world. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical presentation, risk factors, complications, treatment, outcome and predictors of death in patients with tetanus. METHODS: Patients aged ≥ 13 years admitted to Tikur Anbessa Hospital from June 2001 to May 2009 with the diagnosis of tetanus were included in this retrospective study. RESULTS: Data from 68 patients were analyzed; majority (77...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the use of magnesium sulfate in a case of generalized tetanus in a dog. CASE SUMMARY: A 1.5-year-old golden retriever was presented for a digital wound on the right thoracic limb and clinical signs associated with generalized tetanus. Initial case management consisted of wound debridement, treatment with metronidazole, tetanus immunoglobulin, methocarbamol, airway management via tracheostomy, and nursing care. Sedation to control severe muscle spasms became insufficient despite increasing doses of benzodiazepine, methocarbamol, and barbiturate continuous rate infusions...