Is All Oxygen Created The Same?

Is All Oxygen Created The Same?

Oxygen therapy is frequently used in the emergency department for the treatment of hypoxia and respiratory failure and can be delivered in a variety of ways. Conventional oxygen therapy (COT) via nasal cannula is often a... read more

Safe Transfer of the Brain-injured Patient

Safe Transfer of the Brain-injured Patient

The document considers recent developments in the management of multiply-injured patients and those with acute ischaemic stroke. Whilst many of the principles of safe transfer are common to all seriously ill patients,... read more

Interim Clinical Guidance for Management of Patients with Confirmed Coronavirus Infection

Interim Clinical Guidance for Management of Patients with Confirmed Coronavirus Infection

This interim guidance is for clinicians caring for patients with confirmed 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection. CDC will update this interim guidance as more information becomes available. There are a limited... read more

Neuroprognostication Practices in Postcardiac Arrest Patients

Neuroprognostication Practices in Postcardiac Arrest Patients

Neuroprognostic approaches to hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy vary among physicians and are often not consistent with current guidelines. The overall inconsistency in approaches and deviation from evidence-based recommendations... read more

Prognostication with Point-of-Care Echocardiography During Cardiac Arrest (ALS)

Prognostication with Point-of-Care Echocardiography During Cardiac Arrest (ALS)

This topic was prioritized by the ALS Task Force based on the high prevalence of point-of-care echocardiography during cardiac arrest without recognizing the potential pitfalls for misinterpretation as an adjunct prognostic... read more

Guidelines for the Management of Severe TBI

Guidelines for the Management of Severe TBI

Often, the available evidence is not sufficient to generate guidelines addressing the most critical questions faced by clinicians and patients. Although there have been some major developments in severe traumatic brain... read more

An Ethical Claim for Providing Medical Recommendations in PICU

An Ethical Claim for Providing Medical Recommendations in PICU

The Declaration of Geneva was recently revised to emphasize patient autonomy and the importance of clinicians sharing medical knowledge. This reflects the welcome evolution of the doctor-patient relationship from one... read more

SSEP Retains its Value as Predictor of Poor Outcome Following Cardiac Arrest in the Era of Therapeutic Hypothermia

SSEP Retains its Value as Predictor of Poor Outcome Following Cardiac Arrest in the Era of Therapeutic Hypothermia

The absence of the somatosensory evoked potential (SSEP) N20 cortical wave remains one of the most reliable early prognostic tools for identifying unfavorable neurologic outcome in the evaluation of patients with severe anoxic-ischemic... read more

Procalcitonin-Guided Use of Antibiotics for Lower Respiratory Tract Infection

Procalcitonin-Guided Use of Antibiotics for Lower Respiratory Tract Infection

The provision of procalcitonin assay results, along with instructions on their interpretation, to emergency department and hospital-based clinicians did not result in less use of antibiotics than did usual care among patients... read more

How to Optimize the Use of Blood Cultures for the Diagnosis of Bloodstream Infections?

How to Optimize the Use of Blood Cultures for the Diagnosis of Bloodstream Infections?

Bloodstream infection (BSI) is a major cause of death in developed countries and the detection of microorganisms is essential in managing patients. Despite major progress has been made to improve identification of microorganisms,... read more

Practical Management of Invasive Candidiasis in Critically Ill Patients

Practical Management of Invasive Candidiasis in Critically Ill Patients

The heterogeneity of this patient population necessitated the creation of a mixed working group comprising experts in clinical microbiology, infectious diseases and intensive care medicine, all chosen on the basis of their... read more

Sustained reduction of catheter-associated bloodstream infections with enhancement of catheter bundle by chlorhexidine dressings over 11 years

Sustained reduction of catheter-associated bloodstream infections with enhancement of catheter bundle by chlorhexidine dressings over 11 years

The addition of chlorhexidine dressings to all CVC and arterial lines to an ongoing catheter bundle was associated with a sustained 11-year reduction of all catheter-associated bloodstream infections. This large real-world... read more

Antibiotics for Sepsis – Finding the Equilibrium

Antibiotics for Sepsis – Finding the Equilibrium

Sepsis is medicine’s last remaining preserve for unrestrained antibiotic prescribing. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines recommend empirical broad-spectrum therapy within one hour of triage for both sepsis and septic... read more

To transfuse or not transfuse: an intensive appraisal of red blood cell transfusions in the ICU

To transfuse or not transfuse: an intensive appraisal of red blood cell transfusions in the ICU

A restrictive transfusion threshold is recommended in nearly all critically ill patients. This is at least noninferior to more liberal transfusion practice; in addition, a restrictive threshold has shown improved outcomes... read more