PulmCrit (EMCrit)

Severe hypoglycemia can be scary, especially when the patient isn’t responding to front-line therapies (e.g. IV dextrose).  However, some unconventional tools and an organized approach can make this extremely manageable.

I should do a formal retrospective cohort study on this, but I don’t have time.  Fortunately, the ICU group at Northshore/Long Island Jewish has done exactly that.

Bradycardia emergencies are uncommon, but these cases can go sideways fast.  An appropriately aggressive approach is needed to avoid cardiac arrest.  Sometimes the answer is as simple as the appropriate epinephrine dose.  

Sir William Osler called pneumonia “the captain of the men of death.”  Over a century later, pneumonia remains the leading cause of infectious death in the developed world.  

Occasionally in science we encounter a truly bizarre result.  Our natural inclination is to ignore the bizarre result.  It’s jarring.  It creates cognitive dissonance, challenging our understanding of the world.  However, struggling to understand the bizarre result can reset our perspective.  It’s often the bizarre, unexpected result that changes everything.