#FOAMcc

How do you care for the crashing trauma patient? This post takes you through the critical resuscitation step-by-step.

Your overnight junior calls for your help with his decompensating intubated patient. The patient is a 54 year-old male with a history of COPD who was intubated ten minutes ago. The ventilator is alarming due to high pressures. The patient’s current vitals are HR 140, BP 80/50, SpO2 82%. The ventilator settings are VCV rate 12, tidal volume 450, PEEP 15, FiO2 100%. You quickly disconnect the circuit but the patient is not improving. What do you do next?

The increased troponin used to be a straight ticket to the cardiology service. Now, the picture isn’t so clear. What do you need to consider in the patient with elevated troponin?

What do you do with the head trauma patient who is anticoagulated? Do you discharge the patient, observe and repeat CT, or admit the patient? This post evaluates this question and more.

Hemolytic uremic syndrome is a potentially deadly disease, comprised of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA), thrombocytopenia, and acute kidney injury (AKI). This post evaluates the pathophysiology, evaluation, and management of HUS.

Administering a thrombolytic in a cardiac arrest from MI remains controversial. Data remains limited and should be considered on a case by case basis.

In 2002, a new standard of care was established when the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) highlighted the importance of recognizing sepsis and initiating treatment early. Once we find that a patient meets Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) criteria with a source of infection, rapid and appropriate treatment including resuscitation is a must. Early fluid resuscitation is necessary for septic patients, but there is large variance on the aggressiveness of fluid resuscitation. There is disagreement amongst the experts on the total amount of fluids that should be administered and the end points for resuscitation. We must ask ourselves, at what point does our aggressive resuscitation actually start to harm our patients?

Does your choice of fluids for resuscitation in sepsis matter? Multiple studies have been performed to determine whether septic patients benefit from colloid versus crystalloid IV fluids, and other studies have specifically looked at the different kinds of fluids within those specific groups. Debate now exists as to which fluid will improve patient outcomes.

A great deal of literature exists on sepsis and providing state of the art care in the ED. As EM physicians, we pride ourselves on resuscitating sick patients, and we are well aware that septic patients can rapidly decline clinically. Finding the source and providing appropriate antibiotics, adequate preload with IV fluids, and vasopressors if necessary are key components. The SIRS criteria are our first line of defense in the early identification of sepsis. But, it is important to recognize that just because a patient has multiple SIRS criteria, they may not actually be septic.

Are there any tests that can help you with Giant Cell Arteritis?