Tag: trauma
Trauma Room Two
In every hospital emergency department there is a room reserved for trauma. It is a place where life and death are separated by the thinnest of margins. A place where some families celebrate the most improbable of victories... read more
Words that Heal: ICU Journals at Penn Help Patients and Staff
After years of planning, Penn Presbyterian began offering the journals in January to help prevent post-intensive care syndrome or PICS, a set of physical and emotional problems gaining attention as more people survive an... read more
Novel Oral Anticoagulants and Trauma
The number of anticoagulated trauma patients is increasing. Trauma patients on warfarin have been found to have poor outcomes, particularly after intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). However, the effect of novel oral anticoagulants... read more
The Case of the Dying Soldiers: Practical Applications of Pharmacology Concepts in Critical Care
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are very important when it comes to treating critically ill or critically injured patients. However, when we teach this topic we usually present things using complex equations and explanations... read more
When to Withdraw Resuscitation in the ED
When can and should we withdraw from continuing resuscitation in the Emergency Department? We are here to save lives. I would argue the Emergency Medicine is a very pure expression of a Doctor's role: we meet a patient, we... read more
The Emerging Role of the Microbiota in the ICU
The importance of the intestinal and lung microbiotas is often overlooked on the ICU. Currently, we can explore the microbiome using a vast array of techniques, giving us 'meta' libraries of data, which has allowed researchers... read more
The Prevalence of Compassion Fatigue and Burnout among Healthcare Professionals in ICUs
The true prevalence of burnout, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress and vicarious trauma in ICU healthcare professionals remains open for discussion. A thorough exploration of emotional distress in relation to... read more
Ten False Beliefs in Neurocritical Care
1. Only neurointensivists should care about the brain. 2. Clinical examination of neurocritically ill patients is impossible. 3. We should no longer monitor ICP in traumatic brain injury (TBI). 4. The threshold to treat... read more
Lower EGS Mortality Among Hospitals with Higher-Quality Trauma Care
Patients undergoing emergency general surgery (EGS) procedures are up to eight times more likely to die than patients undergoing the same procedures electively. This excess mortality is often attributed to nonmodifiable patient... read more
Associations With Psychological Outcomes Among Family Members of Mechanical Ventilation Survivors
In this multicenter cross-sectional survey, we interviewed family members of mechanically ventilated patients at the time of transfer from the ICU to the hospital ward. To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore... read more
Hemorrhagic Shock: Pearls and Pitfalls for the Resuscitation Room
Hemorrhagic shock is a state of systemic hypoperfusion secondary to acute blood loss which may have either traumatic or atraumatic etiologies. While gastrointestinal and traumatic etiologies are some of the most common causes... read more
Survival and Safety Outcomes of ICU Patients Discharged Directly Home
Recruited discharged directly to home patients experienced very good 8-week postdischarge outcomes with 0% mortality and a low rate of ICU readmission (1%) or ward readmission (4%), but not an insignificant rate of emergency... read more
Comparison of Etomidate and Ketamine for Induction During Rapid Sequence Intubation of Adult Trauma Patients
Induction doses of etomidate during rapid sequence intubation cause transient adrenal dysfunction, but its clinical significance on trauma patients is uncertain. Ketamine has emerged as an alternative for rapid sequence intubation... read more
Association Between Continuous Hyperosmolar Therapy and Survival in Patients with TBI
Intracranial hypertension (ICH) is a major cause of death after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Continuous hyperosmolar therapy (CHT) has been proposed for the treatment of ICH, but its effectiveness is controversial. We compared... read more
The Life Cycle of Intensive Care Survivors
I started the Intensive care follow-up clinic to try to make sense of my work with critical patients and get feedback from their physical recovery. Over time, I verified that the patients presented not only physical effects,... read more
Get Ready for a Massive Influx of Untriaged Patients
When a mass casualty incident occurs, emergency physicians are quickly thrust onto the front lines. That is precisely what happened on October 1st at Sunrise Emergency Department in Las Vegas the night Stephen Paddock opened... read more
How The Burn Trauma ICU Eliminated Central Line Infections
Is zero possible? In the case of central line infections, the answer was once no. A CLABSI (central line associated blood stream infection) was once considered a car crash, or an expected inevitability of care. When University... read more
