EMCrit Project

We often joke that the right ventricle is the “forgotten ventricle,” but there is a sad truth behind this joke.  Recently, there has been increased recognition of the importance of right ventricle failure and systemic congestion within some circles (e.g., nephrologists and resuscitationists). However, overall the right ventricular failure continues to be commonly overlooked. A […]

Sometimes I encounter basic pharmacokinetic questions that don’t seem to be readily answered in the immediately available literature.  I’ve found FOAMed to be a useful way to make sure I’m doing this right (e.g., see a prior discussion of the appropriate loading dose based on intermittent maintenance dosing and half-life here). Today I want to […]

REVISE is the latest multicenter RCT on the use of PPIs for GI prophylaxis in critical illness. I would view this as the triquel following SUP-ICU and PEPTIC. In order to understand REVISE in context, let’s briefly review SUP-ICU and PEPTIC trials, before discussing REVISE. Part I: SUP-ICU (2018) This was a large multicenter RCT […]

introduction Bilevel Sequence Intubation (BSI) refers to initiation of noninvasive bilevel positive pressure ventilation with a backup rate prior to intubation (either using a BiPAP machine or a full-featured mechanical ventilator). BSI is distinct from traditional rapid sequence intubation (RSI), since BSI involves the delivery of machine-initiated, pressure-controlled breaths following administration of sedation and paralytics. […]

intro: the challenge of procedural sedation in critical illness Procedural sedation for critically ill patients is a minefield for several reasons: Patients are already physiologically unstable. Procedures are emergent (a factor widely associated with greater complications). Time constraints often prevent a complete pre-anesthetic evaluation (e.g., medical history and laboratory studies may be unknown). A single […]

Piperacillin-tazobactam is an antibiotic that a lot of people love to hate. Combine this with the conservatism that often (rightfully) surrounds drug safety, and it creates a lot of volatility. Before going further, we should review some recent history regarding piptazo. In the early 2010’s, a series of retrospective correlational studies found that patients treated […]

A razor is a rule of thumb that is helpful, although it isn’t always correct. In medicine we’re familiar with Occam’s razor (the rule of parsimony). The cutoff razor states: if a continuous variable is dichotomized using a cutoff, then values near the cutoff provide little information. A simple illustration of the cutoff razor is […]

(A blogitorial is like a tweetorial in blog form, so folks on different platforms can see it). Our approach to risk stratification and management of (sub)massive PE tends to be dominated by CT scan and echocardiography (eye-candy modalities). And these are great. But I think there are situations where ECG can be really helpful – […]

Eyelid opening apraxia refers to a specific inability to open the eyelids. This may result from non-dominant hemispheric strokes. On superficial examination it will mimic unconsciousness, but upon further examination the patient is awake and able to respond to stimuli with their extremities. I’ve seen a similar phenomenon of eyelid opening apraxia a few times […]

People on twitter absolutely hate the concept of using a central line to resuscitate a GI bleeder. This comes up a couple times per year. I think the source of this hatred is largely three-fold: A central line alone is garbage (without a Level-1 or Belmont infuser). I’ll admit that.  So if you’re working in […]

Polypharmacy is technically defined as taking five or more medications on a daily basis. Polypharmacy is increasingly becoming the norm among adults, due to several factors (an aging population, increasing numbers of medical problems, and increasingly complex regimens available to treat chronic disorders such as heart failure). Indeed, the term “polypharmacy” is arguably antiquated now […]

background: ANTHARTIC trial Prophylaxis against VAP (ventilator-associated pneumonia) is already supported by a few studies in the literature, perhaps most notably the ANTHARTIC trial.  That was a multicenter RCT evaluating 48 hours of therapy with amoxicillin/clavulanate for patients intubated following cardiac arrest. Antibiotic therapy reduced early-onset VAP, with a trend towards more ventilator-free days (further […]

background and general concept My research project in fellowship was the construction of a mathematical model to convert VBG values into ABG values.  The fundamental concept for the model was pretty simple: we can approximate the respiratory quotient (RQ) of tissue in the hand as being constant. This indicates that changes in oxygen content and […]

Within the past year, two major societies have released guidelines on ARDS: the ATS (American Thoracic Society) and the ESICM (European Society of Intensive Care Medicine). Don’t be fooled by their names – both of these organizations are fundamentally international in scope. Some authors on the ATS document were from Europe, and similarly some authors […]

A loading dose may be used to rapidly achieve steady-state pharmacokinetics. For drugs with a long half-life, this accelerates the attainment of therapeutic levels: For most drugs with single-compartment pharmacokinetics, a loading dose may be calculated using the following formula: (discussed further here) The graph below illustrates how this equation works: If (dosing interval)/(half life) […]