Albumin Administration in Sepsis: The Case for and Against

Albumin Administration in Sepsis: The Case for and Against

Serum albumin is an essential plasma protein, with a variety of homeostatic and predictive roles in health and disease. Hypoalbuminaemia is common in critical illness. Human albumin solution has been administered clinically... read more

A Trauma Nurse Reflects On Compassion Fatigue

A Trauma Nurse Reflects On Compassion Fatigue

Kristin Laurel, a flight nurse from Waconia, Minn., has worked in trauma units for over two decades. The daily exposure to distressing situations can sometimes result in compassion fatigue. That burnout is what Laurel says... read more

Michael Lewis’ The Undoing Project: How do ER surgeons avoid dumb, deadly mistakes? Ask their doctor

Michael Lewis’ The Undoing Project: How do ER surgeons avoid dumb, deadly mistakes? Ask their doctor

In an excerpt from his new book Michael Lewis examines a Toronto doctor who helps trauma surgeons avoid errors in judgment when life and death are on the line. Doctors tended to see only what they were trained to see: That... read more

Systemic and Microcirculatory Effects of Blood Transfusion in Experimental Hemorrhagic Shock

Systemic and Microcirculatory Effects of Blood Transfusion in Experimental Hemorrhagic Shock

The microvascular reperfusion injury after retransfusion has not been completely characterized. Specifically, the question of heterogeneity among different microvascular beds needs to be addressed. In addition, the identification... read more

A Call for Fresh Airway Management Standards

A Call for Fresh Airway Management Standards

Anesthesiology News recently reported on a study that promoted the LMA in prone position to "avoid intubation, reduce use of relaxants and minimize airway trauma." This study reflects increasing confusion in a complex... read more

The Sick and the Dead: Evidence-Based Trauma Resuscitation

The Sick and the Dead: Evidence-Based Trauma Resuscitation

The science of trauma resuscitation has undergone a fairly massive evolution in the past decade. This talk was our attempt to summarize the best-of-the-best in trauma literature from the past several years, and package it... read more

Preadmission Oral Corticosteroids Are Associated With Reduced Risk of ARDS in Critically Ill Adults With Sepsis

Preadmission Oral Corticosteroids Are Associated With Reduced Risk of ARDS in Critically Ill Adults With Sepsis

The unadjusted occurrence rate of acute respiratory distress syndrome within 96 hours of ICU admission was 35% among patients who had received oral corticosteroids compared with 42% among those who had not (p = 0.107). In... read more

The Emotional Toll of Treating Victims of Violence

The Emotional Toll of Treating Victims of Violence

Hospital leaders are implementing several techniques to address the lasting trauma of disaster emergencies. Hospital disaster drills often focus on transporting patients to the emergency department and moving them into the... read more

The Toll of Death and Disability From Traumatic Injury in the United States

The Toll of Death and Disability From Traumatic Injury in the United States

This viewpoint describes the lack of funding for trauma research as a possible cause of increasing mortality rates from traumatic injury. In a seminal 1966 report, the National Research Council (NRC) declared that unintentional... read more

Ratio-based Transfusion and Non-trauma Patients

Ratio-based Transfusion and Non-trauma Patients

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) urge caution in adopting ratio-based transfusion - a practice previously studied only in patients with severe traumatic injuries - in non-trauma patients. Their study published... read more

Meta-Analysis of Therapeutic Hypothermia for Traumatic Brain Injury in Adult and Pediatric Patients

Meta-Analysis of Therapeutic Hypothermia for Traumatic Brain Injury in Adult and Pediatric Patients

Therapeutic hypothermia is a likely beneficial treatment following TBI in adults, improving both neurologic outcomes and decreasing mortality rates. Our work suggests that the optimal management strategy to improve both morbidity... read more

Association of Ratio-Based Massive Transfusion With Survival Among Patients Without Trauma

Association of Ratio-Based Massive Transfusion With Survival Among Patients Without Trauma

Association Between Ratio of Fresh Frozen Plasma to Red Blood Cells During Massive Transfusion and Survival Among Patients Without Traumatic Injury. This study reports on the use and benefits of ratio-based blood product... read more

Stapled versus hand-sewn

Stapled versus hand-sewn

Stapled versus hand-sewn: A prospective emergency surgery study. An American Association for the Surgery of Trauma multi-institutional study. Data from the trauma patient population suggests handsewn (HS) anastomoses are... read more

A Primer on the Perils of Intravenous Fluids – Part 2

A Primer on the Perils of Intravenous Fluids – Part 2

Critically-ill patients all likely have endothelial dysfunction to some degree. resuscitationThis perturbation in microvascular physiology may be underpinned by abnormal glycocalyx structure and function. Sepsis, trauma,... read more