A Bold New Strategy for Stopping the Rise of Superbugs
Scientists have pinpointed a molecule that accelerates the evolution of drug-resistant microbes. Now they're trying to find a way to block it. The British chemist Leslie Orgel reputedly once said that "evolution is cleverer... read more
Implanted Organs That Won’t Be Rejected
Breakthrough development uses a patient's own stomach cells, cutting the risk of an immune response to implanted organs. Israeli researchers report that they have invented the first fully personalized tissue implant, engineered... read more
Cost-effectiveness of Procalcitonin Testing to Guide Antibiotic Treatment Duration in Critically Ill Patients
Although the impact of PCT guidance on total healthcare-related costs during the initial hospitalisation episode is likely negligible, the lower in-hospital mortality may lead to a non-significant increase in costs over a... read more
Is a Golden Age of Resuscitation on the Horizon?
Is emergency medicine on the verge of "the dawn of a new golden age of resuscitation?" That's the bold prediction from CPR innovator Keith Lurie, MD, a professor of internal and emergency medicine at the University of Minnesota,... read more
Lab-grown ‘Mini Brains’ Produce Electrical Patterns That Resemble Those of Premature Babies
'Mini brains' grown in a dish have spontaneously produced human-like brain waves for the first time — and the electrical patterns look similar to those seen in premature babies. The advancement could help scientists to... read more
The Patient, The Whole Patient and Nothing But The Patient
In this short opinion piece, career and consumer advisor Belinda MacLeod-Smith challenges us to consider crucial elements of whole patient care, and how they can be impacted by limiting factors. Caring for someone with ongoing,... read more
Intensive Care Medicine in 2050: The Future of ICU Treatments
It's unlikely that any of the three of us will still be around, but we can imagine how our children would describe their experience if they were admitted to the ICU in 2050. Here is what they might say: "The hospital is definitely... read more
The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives
Practicing nurse and New York Times columnist Theresa Brown invites us to experience not just a day in the life of a nurse but all the life that happens in just one day on a busy teaching hospital’s cancer ward. In the... read more
Transient Systolic Anterior Motion with Junctional Rhythm After Mitral Valve Repair in the ICU
This case report shows that junctional rhythm can cause deterioration of SAM, LVOTO, and MR, and can lead to unstable hemodynamics in a patient with right ventricular failure after MVR. Atrial pacing can resolve SAM, LVOTO,... read more
Effect of Bag-Mask Ventilation vs Endotracheal Intubation During CPR on Neurological Outcome After OHCA
Among patients with out-of-hospital cardiorespiratory arrest (OHCA), the use of BMV compared with ETI failed to demonstrate noninferiority or inferiority for survival with favorable 28-day neurological function, an inconclusive... read more
Impact of Drug and Equipment Preparation on Pre-hospital Emergency Anesthesia Procedural Time, Error Rate and Cognitive Load
Pre-preparation of Preparation on Pre-hospital Emergency (PHEA) equipment and drugs resulted in safer performance of PHEA and has the potential to reduce on-scene time by up to a third. In total 23 experiments were completed,... read more
The Accuracy of Noninvasive Cardiac Output and Pressure Measurements with Finger Cuff
The finger cuff method provides a reasonable estimate of CO and blood pressure, which does not meet the criteria for clinical interchangeability with the currently used invasive devices. Finger cuff is an easy-to-use hemodynamic... read more
Why Doctors Hate Their Computers
Something's gone terribly wrong. Doctors are among the most technology-avid people in society; computerization has simplified tasks in many industries. Yet somehow we've reached a point where people in the medical profession... read more
How Doctors Responded After NRA Told Them To “Stay In Their Lane”
If the goal of the National Rifle Association (NRA) was to get doctors' attention, the Tweet posted recently certainly did its job. The NRA editorial that accompanied the Tweet included the following statement: "some doctors’... read more
Electronic Health Records & Preventing Healthcare-Associated Infection
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), as part of the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act of 2009, was created to accelerate the pace of technology diffusion in the American healthcare... read more
PET-CT in Critically Ill Patients: Diagnosing the Unsuspected
PET-CT precisely detected the deep foci of infection about 48 hours prior to the diagnosis of sepsis. The cases reports suggested the use of this image technique in ICU for patients with sepsis of unknown origin. We admitted... read more
Antithrombotic Therapy for Venous Thromboembolic Disease
This JAMA Clinical Guidelines Synopsis summarizes the American College of Chest Physicians' 2016 recommendations on antithrombotic therapy for venous thromboembolism (VTE). The estimated annual incidence of VTE, defined... read more
“Real-World” Application of Thrombolysis in Cardiac Arrest
In a single center's experience, thrombolytic therapy is used infrequently for the management of cardiac arrest. Thrombolysis during cardiac arrest should be considered on a case-by-case basis and should be utilized only... read more
Superbugs Pose a Dangerous, $65 Billion Threat to the US Health-Care System
A new report released Wednesday from the OECD estimates that antimicrobial resistant infection is on track to kill 30,000 Americans per year by 2050. The financial cost to the 33 developed countries included in the study... read more
Septic Shock: Innovative Treatment Options in the Wings
Vitamin C, angiotensin-II, and methylene blue are emerging options on the cutting edge of refractory septic shock treatment that require more investigation, but nevertheless appear promising, Rishi Rattan, MD, said at the... read more
Caffeine Accelerates Emergence from Isoflurane Anesthesia in Humans
Intravenous caffeine is able to accelerate emergence from isoflurane anesthesia in healthy males without any apparent adverse effects. All randomized participants were included in the analysis. The mean time to emergence... read more
Improving Hospital Survival and Reducing Brain Dysfunction at Seven California Community Hospitals
The evidence-based ABCDEF bundle was successfully implemented in seven community hospital ICUs using an interprofessional team model to operationalize the Pain, Agitation, and Delirium guidelines. Higher bundle compliance... read more
