Iraqi Board Emergency Medicine key terms

A controlled electrical shock delivered across the chest to stop chaotic ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia and allow the heart's natural pacemaker to restore an organised rhythm.

The reappearance of a palpable pulse and effective perfusion after resuscitation, marking the end of cardiac arrest and prompting post-resuscitation care and monitoring.

A complex set of brain injury, myocardial dysfunction, systemic ischaemia-reperfusion injury, and persistent precipitating pathology that occurs after ROSC and requires targeted intensive care.

Controlled cooling of a comatose patient after cardiac arrest, usually to 32–36°C for at least 24 hours, to reduce reperfusion brain injury and improve neurological outcomes.

Acute myocardial infarction with persistent ST-segment elevation on ECG, indicating complete coronary artery occlusion and requiring urgent reperfusion by primary percutaneous coronary intervention or fibrinolysis.

Mechanical opening of an occluded coronary artery with balloon angioplasty and usually a stent, performed as the preferred reperfusion strategy for STEMI when it can be delivered promptly.

A cardiac muscle protein released into blood when heart muscle is damaged; highly sensitive assays help diagnose acute myocardial infarction but must be interpreted with clinical context and serial testing.

Rhythmic chest compressions with rescue breaths, or compressions alone, that maintain blood flow to the brain and heart when a person is in cardiac arrest.

Acute severe hypoxaemia with bilateral lung opacities not fully explained by heart failure, caused by inflammatory alveolar-capillary injury and managed with lung-protective ventilation.

Positive pressure maintained in the airways at the end of expiration during mechanical ventilation, which keeps alveoli open, improves oxygenation, and reduces atelectrauma.

Air trapped in the pleural space under pressure, collapsing the lung and shifting mediastinal structures, causing obstructive shock; treated immediately by needle decompression followed by chest drain.

Expectoration of a large volume of blood from the lower respiratory tract, conventionally over 100–600 mL in 24 hours, threatening airway obstruction and asphyxiation and requiring urgent airway control and bleeding localisation.

A bedside ultrasound examination of the pericardium and dependent abdominal and pelvic spaces for free fluid, used to detect haemorrhage in injured patients and guide resuscitation decisions.

FAST plus ultrasound views of both pleural spaces to detect pneumothorax and haemothorax, increasing the sensitivity of bedside sonography in blunt and penetrating torso trauma.

Circulatory failure from acute blood loss, producing inadequate tissue perfusion with tachycardia, hypotension, and lactic acidosis; managed with haemorrhage control and balanced blood product resuscitation.

A trauma strategy that prioritises stopping bleeding, permissive hypotension, warming, and early balanced transfusion of red cells, plasma, and platelets to prevent the lethal triad of acidosis, hypothermia, and coagulopathy.

A prearranged system for rapidly delivering large volumes of blood products in fixed ratios, with laboratory and logistical support, to patients with life-threatening haemorrhage.

Insertion of a large-bore needle into the pleural space to release trapped air in tension pneumothorax before a chest drain can be placed.

Surgical placement of a tube into the pleural space to drain air, blood, or fluid and to re-expand the lung, commonly performed for pneumothorax, haemothorax, or empyema.

A 3–15 point score of eye opening, verbal response, and motor response used to grade level of consciousness after head injury and other neurological emergencies.

A continuous seizure lasting 5 minutes or more, or repeated seizures without recovery of consciousness, requiring immediate benzodiazepine therapy and a search for reversible causes.

The pressure inside the skull from brain tissue, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid; raised ICP can reduce cerebral perfusion and cause herniation, requiring positioning, osmotherapy, and sometimes surgical decompression.

A recognisable clinical pattern of vital signs, mental status, pupils, skin, and bowel sounds that points to a class of poisoning, such as opioid, anticholinergic, sympathomimetic, or sedative-hypnotic.

A competitive opioid receptor antagonist given to reverse respiratory depression and coma in opioid poisoning; it may precipitate withdrawal and has a shorter duration than many opioids, so observation is needed.

A potentially life-threatening toxidrome of agitation, clonus, hyperreflexia, hyperthermia, and autonomic instability caused by serotonergic drugs, treated by stopping the agent and giving supportive care.

A rapid first impression of a child using appearance, work of breathing, and circulation to skin, used to identify seriously ill children before vital signs are measured.

A scoring tool combining vital signs and clinical observations in children to detect deterioration early and trigger escalation of care.

Excessive bleeding after childbirth, commonly defined as 500 mL or more after vaginal birth or 1000 mL or more after caesarean, and a leading cause of maternal death requiring uterotonics, resuscitation, and haemorrhage control.

Failure of the uterus to contract adequately after delivery, the most common cause of postpartum haemorrhage, treated with uterine massage and uterotonic drugs.

A pregnancy-specific disorder of new hypertension and proteinuria or other organ dysfunction after 20 weeks' gestation, which can progress to seizures and maternal organ failure and is treated by delivery.

Generalised seizures in a woman with pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening obstetric emergency treated with magnesium sulphate and urgent delivery.

Raised pressure within a closed fascial compartment that impairs blood flow and threatens muscle and nerve viability, causing pain out of proportion and requiring urgent fasciotomy.

Breakdown of skeletal muscle releasing myoglobin and intracellular contents into blood, causing acute kidney injury and electrolyte disturbance, treated with aggressive intravenous fluids and monitoring.

A metabolic emergency of insulin deficiency causing hyperglycaemia, ketonaemia, and metabolic acidosis, managed with intravenous fluids, insulin infusion, and careful potassium replacement.

Abnormally high serum potassium, which can cause fatal cardiac arrhythmias; emergency treatment includes calcium for membrane stabilisation, insulin with glucose, and removal of potassium from the body.

Life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection, requiring rapid recognition, cultures, antibiotics, and fluid resuscitation.

Sepsis with persistent hypotension requiring vasopressors to maintain mean arterial pressure and with elevated lactate despite adequate fluid resuscitation.

A bedside score using respiratory rate 22 or more, altered mentation, and systolic blood pressure 100 mmHg or less to flag patients with suspected infection at risk of poor outcome.

A clinical situation in which trained personnel have difficulty with mask ventilation, laryngoscopy, supraglottic device placement, or tracheal intubation, requiring a planned algorithmic approach and backup techniques.

Simultaneous administration of a sedative and a neuromuscular blocker to intubate a patient rapidly while reducing the risk of aspiration and awareness.

Use of a machine to support or replace spontaneous breathing, delivering a set volume or pressure and oxygen to maintain gas exchange while protecting the lungs.