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.
Ventilated ED patients may be at high risk for awareness with paralysis, thereby increasing the risk of long-term psychological sequelae. In this podcast, we...
Though we’ve discussed the use of balanced solutions in the resuscitation of critically ill patients numerous times on CCPEM, the literature remains controversial with...
More than 600,000 patients in North America sustain sudden cardiac arrest each year. When return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) is achieved, there are a...