6 Apr 2020

April 6, 2020

Written by REBEL Crit
Background: Epinephrine remains a staple in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).  However, the optimal dose, timing, and route of administration are still unknown.  Standard dosing of epinephrine is 1mg every 3 to 5 minutes via the intravenous (IV) or intraosseous (IO) route. IO lines are quicker to establish and have a higher first-attempt success rate compared to IV access. Rapid placement and ease of use minimizes delays for critical patients requiring quick access. The literature, although methodologically limited, is mixed about the use of IV vs IO access for epinephrine in OHCA.
Medical Categories: Resuscitation
1 Like
5 Apr 2020

April 5, 2020

Written by REBEL Cast, REBEL Covid-19, REBEL Crit
Hey there REBEL Cast listeners, Salim Rezaie here.  For me and I am sure many COVID-19 has been quite the whirlwind.  So much information, so little time to process all of it.  Meanwhile, many of us are on the frontlines having to take care of these patients.  Personally, I have never been so wrong, so many times about a single disease process.  What I say today, may be different tomorrow.  This podcast was recorded on April 3rd, 2020 so any information that comes out after this, might change the viewpoints that are expressed today.

Medical Categories: Infectious Disease, Thoracic and Respiratory
8 Likes
2 Apr 2020

April 2, 2020

Written by REBEL Cast

Background: Peripheral intravenous (PIV) access is one of the most commonly performed invasive procedures in unwell patients.  Although, most patients can have PIVs placed by palpation, there is a subset of patients with difficult vascular access that will require ultrasound-guided peripheral IVs. We have covered this topic before with Jacob Avila (The Ultrasound Podcast, 5 Minute Sono) in REBEL Cast Ep 62. One thing we did not cover was catheter dwell rates.  Catheter dwell rate is an important endpoint as it takes time to perform the procedure, but more importantly for the patient, premature IV failure can include complications such as infiltration, phlebitis, ischemia, necrosis, as well as delays in receiving medications. Therefore, an important concept worth covering is the length of the catheter that is in the vein.

Midline catheters, which we have also covered on REBEL EM are catheters with lengths of 6 to 20cm and represent a potential solution.  These catheters have high success rates and longevity, but insertion requires institutional protocols and specialized training.  A nice go between is the peripheral ultralong catheter (ULC), which is 6.35cm. As with anything new in medicine, it is important to review the evidence to ensure we are performing best practices for our patients.

Medical Categories: Procedures and Skills
1 Like
31 Mar 2020

March 31, 2020

Written by REBEL Covid-19, REBEL EM

I have been thinking a lot about patients with COVID-19 and the pulmonary pattern that they develop.  This disease process has been categorized like ARDS, but the reality is it is not like "typical" ARDS.  Lung compliance is often normal in these patients, and many patients are not in respiratory distress despite low O2 saturations.  Patients can have a bizarre hypoxemia that does not correlate with their symptoms.  I have even read reports of patients looking comfortable and speaking in full sentences with oxygen saturations in the 40 – 80% range.  There are also more traditional patients in respiratory distress with similar oxygen saturations.  This is a situation where we cannot treat a patient based solely on a number - pulse oximetry may not be a reliable marker of respiratory compromise.

Approaches to oxygen supplementation have stressed minimizing aerosolization of viral particles by avoiding HFNC and NIV.  This appears to be a fear-based statement as opposed to an evidence based one.  If we go straight from nasal cannula to intubation, we will simply run out of ventilators.  Then, more challenges present themselves like rationing mechanical ventilation and trying to figure out how to split ventilators due to the lack of resources.

Finally, I have yet to find a study that shows a mortality rate <50% once a patient is intubated.  Maybe a better way to deal with these patients is an intermediary step using HFNC or CPAP while proning patients while they are awake, before considering intubation.  In this post, I want to review some evidence to support my thoughts on this and, just assume that in every scenario we are discussing full PPE (eye protection, N95/PAPR, gown, gloves, and face shield).

Medical Categories: Infectious Disease, Resuscitation
14 Likes
22 Mar 2020

March 22, 2020

Written by REBEL Covid-19, REBEL Crit
Background: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign published their recommendations for the management of patients with COVID-19 on March 20th, 2020 (though as of the date of this blog post, the document has not been peer reviewed).  36 experts from 12 countries attempted to answer 53 questions that are relevant to the management of COVID-19 patients in the ICU. 54 recommendations were made of which 4 are best practice statements, 9 are strong recommendations, and 35 are weak recommendations.  Finally, no recommendations were provided for 6 of the questions.  The document is divided into 5 sections:
  1. Infection Control
  2. Laboratory Diagnosis and Specimens
  3. Hemodynamic Support
  4. Ventilatory Support
  5. COVID-19 Therapy
Below is the list of recommendations and I will interject my thoughts on the ones that need them.
Medical Categories: Infectious Disease
9 Likes
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