Blog
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Mar 18 2024
Everything You Need to Know About Managing High-Risk PE…Mostly
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One third of eligible patients with high-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) receive systemic thrombolysis (ST) despite demonstrated mortality benefit. This review provides a comprehensive overview of current evidence on assessment and management of high-risk PE, with emphasis on reperfusion therapies.Source
Rouleau SG, Casey SD, Kabrhel C, Vinson DR, Long B. Management of high-risk pulmonary embolism in the emergency department: A narrative review. Am J Emerg Med. Published online February 3, 2024. doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2024.01.039 -
Mar 15 2024
Ketamine for the Win? Induction Agents Compared
Dr. Amal Mattu and friends have a new video course you don't want to miss. Take a look!
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A Bayesian meta-analysis found an 83.2% probability that ketamine lowers mortality compared to etomidate in critically ill patients undergoing intubation.Source
Ketamine versus etomidate as an induction agent for tracheal intubation in critically ill adults: a Bayesian meta-analysis. Crit Care. 2024 Feb 17. -
Mar 14 2024
New Meta-analysis – ECPR vs CPR in Cardiac Arrest
Dr. Amal Mattu and friends have a new video course you don't want to miss. Take a look!
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This updated meta-analysis re-demonstrated a benefit for extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) in reducing overall in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) mortality and improving neurological outcomes after cardiac arrest but also demonstrated a new significant reduction in out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) mortality with ECPR.Source
Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation versus conventional CPR in cardiac arrest: an updated meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis. Crit Care. 2024 Feb 21;28(1):57. doi: 10.1186/s13054-024-04830-5. -
Mar 13 2024
Comparing Intubation of Critically Ill Children between APRNs and Physicians
Dr. Amal Mattu and friends have a new video course you don't want to miss. Take a look!
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Review of tracheal intubations (TIs) performed in pediatric ICUs found advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) had a lower first attempt success compared to doctors and respiratory therapists. -
Mar 12 2024
New Aortic Disease Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management
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This summary of clinical guideline updates for the diagnosis and management of aortic diseases includes recommendation changes surrounding the importance of multidisciplinary care teams and referral to centers with higher case volumes when feasible for potentially better outcomes, transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) at time of transthoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA), and updated aneurysm size recommendations for repair, to name a few. Keep reading for more details!Source
Diagnosis and Management of Aortic Diseases. JAMA. 2023 Dec 21;331(4):352-353. doi: 10.1001/jama.2023.23668. -
Mar 11 2024
How do We Avoid the Aortic Landmines?
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In this large multicenter observational cohort study, 0.3% of patients presenting with potential acute aortic syndrome (AAS) symptoms ended up having AAS. Clinician gestalt outperformed the available clinical decision rules (CDRs).Source
Diagnosis of Acute Aortic Syndrome in the Emergency Department (DAShED) study: an observational cohort study of people attending the emergency department with symptoms consistent with acute aortic syndrome. Emerg Med J. 2024;41(3):136-144. Published 2024 Feb 20. -
Mar 08 2024
ECMO (aka ECPR) for Refractory OHCA
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This "brass tacks" summary of a recent systematic review found no improvement in favorable neurologic outcomes or reduction of in-hospital mortality for extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) when compared to standard advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) for refractory out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).Source
Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Refractory Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. Acad Emerg Med. 2023 Dec 05;31(2):190-192. doi: 10.1111/acem.14844. -
Mar 07 2024
Golden Years, Hidden Dangers – Blunt Head Trauma in the Elderly
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This study demonstrated that patients 65 years and older with blunt head trauma are at high risk of significant traumatic brain injuries and poor outcomes even with low-risk mechanisms of injury such as ground level falls and no other high-risk criteria besides advanced age. These findings suggest routine head CT imaging may be helpful for elderly patients with head trauma as clinical assessment may not identify patients with significant pathology.Source
Blunt Head Injury in the Elderly: Analysis of the NEXUS II Injury Cohort. Ann Emerg Med. 2024 Feb 9:S0196-0644(24)00003-9. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2024.01.003. Online ahead of print. -
Mar 06 2024
New ACEP Guideline – Topical Anesthetics for Corneal Abrasion
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The ACEP consensus seems to indicate that it may be safe for patients with a simple corneal abrasion to go home with 24 hour usage of topical anesthetics for pain relief, but the ophthalmologists are not on board. -
Mar 05 2024
Epinephrine or Airway First in OHCA?
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In adults presenting to EMS after OHCA, those receiving epinephrine prior to advanced airway management (AAM = supraglottic airway, SGA, or endotracheal tube) experienced better outcomes and prehospital ROSC than those receiving AAM before epinephrine. This was true for both shockable and non-shockable initial rhythms.Source
Sequence of Epinephrine and Advanced Airway Placement After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Feb 5;7(2):e2356863. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.56863.