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.
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 200,000 patients per year undergo coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Up to 20 percent of these patients will require readmission within...
In 2009 and 2013 investigators published studies that demonstrated improved outcomes in patients with IHCA who received vasopressin and steroids in addition to epinephrine. ...