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...
Critically ill patients with acute hypoxic respiratory failure receive supplemental oxygen as a component of their treatment. In recent years, exposure to high levels...
Patients with severe aortic stenosis who present with acute decompensated heart failure are among the most challenging patients to resuscitate. In this podcast, we...