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.
Current guidelines for many critical illnesses recommend targeting a MAP of 65 mm Hg, with consideration of higher MAPs in older patients with chronic...
Rory Spiegel and Ken Butler join the podcast to discuss critical issues in intubating and ventilating the obese patient. What physiologic changes do you...
Though low-tidal volume ventilation has been shown to decreased mortality in patients with ARDS, the use of these settings in mechanically ventilated ED patients...