REBEL Review 80: Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) for Treatment of Influenza

Created April 10, 2017 | Infectious Disease | DOWNLOAD

7 Apr 2017

April 7, 2017

Written by REBEL EM
Background: The overall mortality in sepsis has decreased quite a bit in the last decade or so, however for a subset of patients, like those with Septic Shock, the mortality still remains high (as high as 50%).  There have been hundreds of studies trying to identify the holy grail to decrease mortality further, but one has not been found thus far.  Marik PE et al [1] published a study in Chest 2016 that has found a potential front runner.  In addition, the authors go on to say, in order to have an impact on a global scale, treatments would not only need to be effective, but also cheap, safe, and readily available; the authors of the following paper may have found just that..
Medical Categories: Infectious Disease
0 Likes
3 Apr 2017

April 3, 2017

Written by REBEL Cast
Background: Historically the treatment of uncomplicated appendicitis has been appendectomy. The first appendectomy performed dates back to 1735 done by Claudius Amyand. Appendectomy has been the standard treatment for acute appendicitis every since Charles McBurney described it in 1889. However, studies have shown that an antibiotic first strategy may be feasible without increased risk of perforation, sepsis, and/or death.  This other approach is called NOTA (Non-Operative Treatment of Appendicitis).  Past RCTs were from Europe and this is the first NIH grant study to question this in the US. Antibiotic first strategies are used for uncomplicated diverticulitis, but have not been used in uncomplicated appendicitis. Several reasons why this strategy may be preferred include fewer complications, less pain, and less disability than an appendectomy first strategy.  There have been a couple of systematic reviews on the issue of NOTA that came to different conclusions (Varadhan et al. BMJ 2012 and Kirby et al. J of Infection 2015). To date, no US randomized trial has evaluated an antibiotics-first approach in uncomplicated appendicitis until now.
Medical Categories: Infectious Disease
0 Likes
28 Mar 2017

March 28, 2017

Written by REBEL EM
Background: With the introduction of sepsis 3.0, came the quick sepsis related organ failure assessment (qSOFA) score. The purpose of this score is supposed to be a bedside tool to help predict which patients are at the greatest risk of poor outcomes.  There are three components to this score: Low systolic blood pressure (≤100mmHg), high respiratory rate (22 breaths per minute), and altered mental status (Glasgow coma scale <15).  Interestingly, nowhere in this score is fever.
Medical Categories: Infectious Disease
0 Likes
31 Oct 2016

October 31, 2016

Written by REBEL Crit
Background: The most recent surviving sepsis campaign recommends the use of hydrocortisone in patients with refractory septic shock (i.e. vasopressor dependent).  However, the use of hydrocortisone in severe sepsis without shock still remains a very controversial topic. Recommendations for hydrocortisone are mostly based on 2 randomized clinical trials (i.e. Annane et al [2] and CORTICUS [3]), but subsequent meta-analyses had more mixed results.  Shock reversal was consistently improved irrespective of disease severity; however, mortality outcomes were not as consistent.  Therefore, it has been hypothesized that early hydrocortisone administration could prevent shock by attenuating patient’s inflammatory response.
Medical Categories: Infectious Disease
0 Likes
en English
zh-CN Chinese (Simplified)en Englishfr Frenchde Germanit Italianpt Portugueseru Russianes Spanishtr Turkish
0