August 2024

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Based on key history and physical examination findings, the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) developed an algorithm for the evaluation of blunt trauma patients ≥65 years.

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Scanning the aged to minimize missed injury: An EAST multicenter study. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2024 May 27. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000004390. Online ahead of print. PMID: 38797882

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A large retrospective registry analysis finds no difference in rates of additional respiratory interventions with preemptive administration of supplemental oxygen during pediatric sedation.

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Preprocedural Oxygenation and Procedural Oxygenation During Pediatric Procedural Sedation: Patterns of Use and Association With Interventions. Ann Emerg Med. Published online June 12, 2024. doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2024.04.014.

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This was a large RCT of critically ill adults with suspected infection who were randomized to receive either continuous infusions or intermittent dosages of intravenous antibiotics. 90-day mortality between groups was not statistically significant, while clinical cure rate was higher in the continuous infusion group.

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Continuous vs Intermittent β-Lactam Antibiotic Infusions in Critically Ill Patients With Sepsis: The BLING III Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. Published online June 12, 2024.

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Yesterday we looked at an argument for learning DL prior to VL. Today, we are covering the counterpoint, where this group argues that DL is not the building block for learning VL.

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COUNTERPOINT: Direct Laryngoscopy: The Building Block to Airway Expertise? No. Chest. 2024 Jun;165(6):1297-1299. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2024.01.027. PMID: 38852967

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Today we are looking at an opinion piece published in Chest where the authors provide an argument that DL should be learned prior to VL.

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POINT: Direct Laryngoscopy: The Building Block to Airway Expertise? Yes. Chest. 2024 Jun;165(6):1296-1297. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2023.12.035. PMID: 38852966.

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In patients with large vessel occlusions(LVO) presenting 4.5-24 hours after onset, without access to endovascular thrombectomy (ET), tenecteplase(TNK) administration bested standard medical treatment(SMT) in 90-day disability-free recovery.

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Tenecteplase for Ischemic Stroke at 4.5 to 24 Hours without Thrombectomy. N Engl J Med. 2024 Jun 14. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2402980. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38884324.

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The SWITCH trial found that decompressive craniectomy plus best medical treatment may improve outcomes in patients with severe intracerebral hemorrhage involving the basal ganglia or thalamus.

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Decompressive craniectomy plus best medical treatment versus best medical treatment alone for spontaneous severe deep supratentorial intracerebral haemorrhage: a randomised controlled clinical trial. Lancet. 2024 Jun 1;403(10442):2395-2404. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00702-5. Epub 2024 May 15. PMID: 38761811.

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In ICU patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and anemia, transfusing blood to a liberal hemoglobin threshold (10 g/dL) compared to a restrictive threshold (7 g/dL) did not lead to better neurological outcomes at 6 months.

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Liberal or Restrictive Transfusion Strategy in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury. N Engl J Med. 2024 Jun 13. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2404360. Epub ahead of print. PMID 38869931.

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Diagnosing patients with a posterior circulation TIA who are experiencing  isolated episodic dizziness can be challenging, especially when considering the difficulty in assessing individual symptoms and the small absolute number of these patients. The authors lay out a pragmatic approach for assessment and diagnosis, but the data to support a reliable clinical decision-making tool is weak.

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Recognizing Posterior Circulation Transient Ischemic Attacks Presenting as Episodic Isolated Dizziness. Ann Emerg Med. 2024 May 23:S0196-0644(24)00214-2. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2024.04.006. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38795083.

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For acute ischemic stroke patients with recent DOAC ingestion who (1) had their DOAC level measured, (2) had DOAC reversal with idarucizumab, or (3) inadvertently received thrombolytics with DOAC subsequently discovered, there was not evidence of increased significant intracranial hemorrhage associated with off-label thrombolytic therapy.

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Intravenous Thrombolysis in Patients With Ischemic Stroke and Recent Ingestion of Direct Oral Anticoagulants. JAMA Neurol. 2023 Mar 1;80(3):233-243. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.4782. Erratum in: JAMA Neurol. 2023 Apr 1;80(4):422. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.5395. PMID: 36807495; PMCID: PMC9857462.