In residency and med school we are always taught the indications for emergent CRRT as the mnemonic: AEIOU Acidosismetabolic acidosis with a pH < 7.1 Electrolytes hyperkalemia > 6.5 mEq/L refractory to treatment or rapidly rising levels in potassiumIngestionswith dialyzable drug, including salicylates, lithium, isopropanol, methanol, and ethylene glycol (SLIME)Overloadvolume overload that does not respond […]

I CAN Drive 65?…In Shock: A Trial of MAP 60-65 in Patients 65 years or older requiring vasopressors

Conservative vs Interventional Management of Spontaneous Primary Pneumothoracies (PSP)

What No COVID? Then at Least Lets Talk Steroids- in ARDS that is…

Reference: Villar. Dexamethasone treatment for the acute respiratory distress syndrome: a multicentre, randomised controlled trial. Lancet Respir Med 2020; 8: 267–76. I know what you are thinking, “What gives? No COVID!” Well the two of you who read this are probably inundated with COVID info. So to give our brains a change I thought I would […]

ESETT: A Randomized Trial of 3 AEDs for Status Epilepticus

Kapur, J et al. Randomized Trial of Three Anticonvulsants Medications for Status Epilepticus. NEJM 2019;381;2103-13 This was a randomized, double-blinded, national multicenter pragmatic study to determine comparative effectiveness of traditional anti-epileptic medications in status epilepticus. The purpose of this study is to see if there is a difference between levetiracetem (Keppra), fosphenytoin (Cerebyx), and valproate (Depakote) in treatment of […]

We’re Back Baby!! The Quick hit article: For ESBL, Just Say NO to PIP/TAZO

Effect of Piperacillin-Tazobactam vs Meropenem on 30-Day Mortality for Patients With E coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae Bloodstream Infection and Ceftriaxone Resistance A Randomized Clinical Trial This was a randomized, double-blinded, international multicenter pragmatic (phew! That’s a mouthful!) study to determine if piperacillin/tazobactam (pip-taz) is non-inferior to meropenem. The reason for this study is to see if […]

Quick Hit Article: Difficult vascular access: You know the drill… but do you really know the drill?

Kawano et al. Intraosseous Vascular Access Is Associated With Lower Survival and Neurologic Recovery Among Patients With Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. Ann Emerg Med. 2018;71:588-596. THE BOTTOM LINE This study was a secondary analysis of a large EMS trial conducted in 7 sites in the US and Canada. This is a really interesting study that looks […]

QUICK HIT ARTICLE: News Flash Breathing is good for you…next up Water, Wet! “How breathing can help you make better decisions…”

De Couck et al. International Journal of Psychophysiology 139 (2019) 1–9. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2019.02.011 THE BOTTOM LINEIn this experimental study of 56 undergrad and grad students in France, utilizing specialized breathing patterns (see image below), the researchers sought to determine the effect of breathing on stressful decision making. They found that using breath patterns for 5 […]

Category: Quick Hit Article

Prophylactic or Surveillance Splenic artery embolization

Is there a DIF between H2 and PPI’s in the mechanically ventilated ICU patient

Only the A-E-I-O-U’s to start RRT and now we know “Y”! The Start-AKI Trial