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.
The use of steroids in patients with sepsis and septic shock has been controversial for decades. At present, the Surviving Sepsis Campaign recommends the...
Mechanically ventilating the patient with a severe asthma exacerbation is fraught with peril. Incorrect settings for tidal volume, respiratory rate, pressure triggers, or inspiratory...
Recent trials have produced conflicting results on the benefit of epinephrine in patients with OHCA. PARAMEDIC2 was just published and is the largest randomized...