Emergency medicine, critical care, and resuscitationists often use the Shock Index to identify patients with increased mortality. The Shock Index is calculated by dividing heart rate by the systolic blood pressure, with a value > 0.8 identifying a potential critically ill patient. In the setting of sepsis, the use of systolic blood pressure to calculate the Shock Index may be less sensitive. In this podcast, we review a recent article that suggests the use of the Diastolic Shock Index may be better in identifying septic patients who require earlier initiation of vasopressor medications.
You can get CME credit for this episode here!Click here for CME Account Creation InstructionsAlthough electrical storm is an uncommon presentation, it is important that we readily recognize and treat these patients to prevent rapid progression to cardiac...
Untreated pain, anxiety, and agitation have both short- and long-term consequences for our critically ill patients. More importantly, it is well-known that patients remember...
Hyponatremia is one of the most common electrolyte disorders encountered in emergency medicine and critical care. Patients with hyponatremic encephalopathy represent a severe form...