22 Apr 2019

April 22, 2019

Written by REBEL EM

Background: Syncope and presyncope are common presenting complaints to the Emergency Department. Orthostatic vital signs are often included in the ED evaluation of syncope to assess for volume depletion despite their poor performance characteristics as previously discussed. In particular, it is important to understand that older adults often have abnormal orthostatic vitals at baseline,  due to numerous causes including medications, despite having a normal physiologic state (Ooi 1997, Aronow 1988). In spite of the evidence, orthostatic vital signs measurements continue to be recommended by the AHA/ACC/HRS guidelines (Shen 2017) and occupy valuable provider and nursing time.

Medical Categories: Cardiovascular
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18 Apr 2019

April 18, 2019

Written by REBEL Crit
Every now and again someone raises the issue on social media about resuscitative thoracotomy.  What are the indications (we have the EAST guidelines for that), what are the risks (highlighted in this important recent paper), and of course, whether EM or surgery should be doing it in the trauma bay (guess what – it’s in the curriculum for both specialties). That’s not the point of this post.  This post is about how I think you, as the emergency medicine physician (EP), working in a system where your surgeon is not in-house, but is available in a reasonable amount of time, should proceed when faced with the patient who meets the indications.  You’ve gone through your HOTTT(T) algorithm and are now at that final “T” – you have to open the chest.
Medical Categories: Trauma
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15 Apr 2019

April 15, 2019

Written by REBEL Crit

Background:Tracheal intubation is a common procedure performed on critically ill patients. In these patients, there is a high risk of life-threatening complications associated with the procedure, with severe hypoxemia being one of the more common. Development of severe hypoxemia, in turn, increases the risk of post-intubation cardiac arrest. Therefore, optimal preoxygenation is an essential part of tracheal intubation to help stave off subsequent complications.

Both NIV and HFNC can provide a higher fraction of inspired oxygen than standard oxygen therapies.  HFNC can provide continuous oxygen up to 70L/min via nasal prongs with the potential advantage of remaining in place for apneic oxygenation. NIV can also provide high flow oxygen but must be removed during the apneic phase of intubation.  To date there has not been a study comparing NIV vs HFNC to reduce the incidence of severe hypoxemia during intubation until now; the FLORALI-2 trial.

Medical Categories: Resuscitation
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11 Apr 2019

April 11, 2019

Written by REBEL EM

The shiny new toy in stroke treatment is endovascular therapy.  There have now been 12 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on endovascular stroke therapy (EST), with eight of the last nine showing positive results – stunningly positive.  This flood of positive trials has led to new guidelines from the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association (ASA)that extend the treatment window potentially as far out as 24 hours after last known well, and has spawned a movement to completely overhaul how we deliver care for patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). With all of the enthusiasm for EST, it is important to review the evolution of this new approach, to review and critique the evidence, and to evaluate what this means in clinical practice.

Medical Categories: Neurology
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