EMCrit Project

IBCC – SCAPE (Sympathetic Crashing Acute Pulmonary Edema)

SCAPE (Sympathetic Crashing Acute Pulmonary Edema) is a specific form of severe heart failure which is seen predominantly in the emergency department and intensive care unit (as opposed to the outpatient cardiology clinic). Consequently, there is a tendency to overlook SCAPE in articles and chapters about heart failure. SCAPE is critical to recognize and intervene […]

NeuroEMCrit – What Every Clinician Should Know about External Ventricular Drains (EVDs)

EVDs, IVCs–all things intracranial monitors…

IBCC – ARDS

There probably isn’t much to say about ARDS that hasn’t been said in some form within the past couple years. We’ve debated continually about the optimal approach to this syndrome, in the absence of much solid evidence (the only large, multi-center RCT which has been replicated in ARDS was ACURASYS – and it failed to […]

EMCrit 306 – Critically Ill and Severe Anaphylaxis

The management and treatment of severe and critical anaphylaxis

PulmCrit – 10 minute talk on hypoxemia physiology

Here is a 10-minute video I made for the Cooper Critical Care Conference. It explores some basic & useful concepts about hypoxemia physiology, including how to apply this at the bedside. The algorithms in the video aren’t intended to be strictly followed, but rather merely as general conceptual schemas. related For more information about the […]

NeuroEMCrit – The Many Aliases and Uses of ADH by Casey Albin

Spend any time in the NeuroICU and you will encounter an abundance of ADH.

IBCC – Right Ventricular failure due to pulmonary hypertension

Right ventricular failure is extremely common among critically ill patients (e.g., affecting a quarter of patients with ARDS). Unfortunately, this is often overlooked in critical care curricula. We tend to spend lots of time focusing on pulmonary arterial hypertension (which is far more rare), thereby overlooking the everyday conundrum of right ventricular failure. It’s called […]

EMCrit 305 – Post-Cardiac Arrest Hypothermia (or not) – TTM2 Synthesis with Niklas Nielsen and Josef Dankiewicz

The TTM2 trial changes game for post-cardiac arrest management. I am joined today with the study’s authors to discuss this amazing paper.

An Opportunity, a Change, a Request, & an Amazing Upgrade

An Opportunity, a Change, a Request, & an Amazing Upgrade Hi There Emcritters: For over a dozen years, I have been putting out Resuscitation and Acute Critical Care education on the EMCrit podcast. And you have been the best audience in the imaginable universe. Together, we have reached a crossroads–the time has come for a […]

IBCC – Liberation from invasive ventilation

Liberation from invasive ventilation is one of the most important goals of critical care medicine. Numerous RCTs have improved our understanding of this process, but it remains as much an art as a science. When in doubt, empirical trials of spontaneous breathing and extubation are more accurate than our predictive ability. The IBCC chapter is […]

EMCrit Wee – Breaking News on Fluid Choice and Rate – The BaSICS Trial

BaSICs Trial Results on Fluid Choice and Rate of Administration

PulmCrit Wee – Patient with nonfocal exam and thrombocytopenia

The case: A ~65 year-old human presents to the ICU with a working diagnosis of vasopressor-dependent septic shock. The patient was previously healthy with no significant medical problems or medications. History is notable for mild nonspecific symptoms (chills, nausea, and a headache), with nothing in particular standing out. Physical examination is unrevealing, with the patient […]

IBCC – Respiratory alkalosis & respiratory acidosis

It’s very difficult to write a good chapter about respiratory alkalosis (hypocapnia) or respiratory acidosis (hypercapnia). These states remind me a bit of grand central station, because each encompasses such a broad range of patients with different conditions – who need enormously different treatments. So any discussion of these conditions is by definition a gross […]

EMCrit 304 – Cerebral Venous Thrombosis (CVT)

Atypical headache=SAH w/u right? Except sometimes it is CVT. This is a critical diagnosis to make and to treat properly. Today I interview @caseyalbin on EMCrit 304 – cerebral venous thrombosis

PulmCrit – Is piperacillin-tazobactam safe in patients with penicillin allergy?

Historically it was believed that allergic reactions could be mediated by the core structures. This would imply that a patient could be allergic to all penicillins, all cephalosporins, or even all beta-lactams. That would be hugely problematic, because a patient could simultaneously be allergic to dozens of antibiotics – greatly complicating their management.

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