Acute mental status changes after the ingestion of alcohol or other substances are a common presentation to the ED. Those with severe obtundation may require intubation for airway protection while the substance metabolizes. In fact, more than 20,000 patients are intubated each year in the United States for acute poisoning or intoxication. Notwithstanding, intubation and mechanical ventilation are not benign procedures. In this podcast we discuss the recently published NICO Trial, that evaluated a strategy of withholding intubation in patients with coma due to acute poisoning.
Although electrical storm is an uncommon presentation, it is important that we readily recognize and treat these patients to prevent rapid progression to cardiac...
In this podcast, we discuss the recently published ADRENAL study and its implications for the use of steroids for patients with refractory septic shock?...
Many critically ill patients are acidotic. Often, bicarbonate is administered to severely acidotic patients, but does it really improve outcomes? The BICAR-ICU was just...