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Emerg Med J 2009;26:524-528 doi:10.1136/emj.2008.059212
  • Prehospital care

Emergency ambulance transport induces stress in patients with acute coronary syndrome

  1. U Weber1,
  2. A Reitinger1,
  3. R Szusz2,
  4. C Hellmich3,
  5. B Steinlechner1,
  6. H Hager1,
  7. B Mora1,
  8. M Selzer1,
  9. M Hiesmayr1,
  10. A Kober1
  1. 1
    Department of Anesthesiology, General Intensive Care and Pain Control, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
  2. 2
    Department of Analytical Medicine and Biochemistry, Medical “Semmelweis”, University of Budapest, Hungary
  3. 3
    Vienna Red Cross Ambulance Service, Vienna, Austria
  1. Dr U Weber, Department of Anesthesiology, General Intensive Care and Pain Control, Medical University Hospital of Vienna, 18–20 Waehringer Guertel, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; ulrikeweber2005{at}hotmail.com
  • Accepted 30 October 2008

Abstract

Background: Trials with healthy volunteers have shown that emergency ambulance transportation induces stress, which becomes evident by an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and plasma levels of stress hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol and prolactin. A study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that emergency ambulance transportation may also lead to stress in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Methods: Venous plasma levels of epinephrine, norepinephrine and lactate as well as visual analogue scale (VAS) scores for pain and anxiety were measured in 32 patients with defined clinical signs of acute coronary syndrome before and after transportation. Heart rate, blood pressure and transcutaneous oxygen saturation levels were recorded every 3 min.

Results: Mean (SD) plasma levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine increased significantly (p<0.01) during transportation (159.29 (55.34) ng/l and 632.53 (156.32) ng/l before transportation vs 211.03 (70.12) ng/l and 782.93 (173.95) ng/l after transportation), while lactate levels, heart rate and mean blood pressure remained almost stable. There was no significant change in mean (SD) VAS scores for pain and anxiety (3.79 (3.70) and 2.89 (3.01) vs 2.13 (3.30) and 1.57 (2.78)).

Conclusion: Emergency ambulance transportation induces a rise in plasma catecholamine levels and therefore stress in patients with acute coronary syndrome, but does not result in cardiac shock as lactate levels and haemodynamic parameters remain normal.

Footnotes

  • Funding: Support for the work was provided solely from departmental sources (Medical University of Vienna, Hungarian National Ambulance Service and Vienna Red Cross Ambulance Service).

  • Competing interests: None.

  • Ethics approval: Institutional review board (IRB) approval was obtained from the Vienna Red Cross and all patients gave written informed consent.

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