airway management & anesthesiology

• airway drugs
  • medication sequence: rocketamine vs. keturonium
  • ketamine-tolerant patient
• cricothyrotomy in asphyxial cardiac arrest
• difficult airway communication via allergy list
• drowned airway series
  • large-bore suction strategies & devices
  • drowned airway algorithm: cut to the chase
• endotracheal tube depth & online calculator
• laryngoscopy
  • pearls from Levitan Airway Course
  • facial hair & airway management
• preoxygenation, apneic oxygenation & apneic ventilation
  • high-flow nasal cannula
    • 1: preoxygenation using a nasal cannula
    • 2: physiology of apneic oxyventilation
    • 3: disagree with RCT by Vourc'h et al. 4/15
  • apneic ventilation using pressure-limited ventilation

cardiology

• atrial fibrillation
  • 1: magnesium infusions for AF & TdP
  • 2: approaching new-onset AF in critical illness
  • cardiogenic shock after cardioversion of atrial flutter
• bradycardic peri-arrest: atropine vs. epinephrine
• hemodynamics
  • 2016 series
    • #1: alternative viewpoint on phenylephrine infusions
    • #2: oral vasopressors to accelerate liberation from ICU
    • #3: why we fail at hemodynamics: cognitive errors
    • #4: epinephrine responsiveness & challenge 
  • phenylephrine & epinephrine can be infused peripherally
  • empty IVC & LV doesn't prove volume depletion
  • central venous oxygen saturation = noise
  • killer resuscitation: abdominal compartment syndrome
  • more below: Infectious diseases / Sepsis / Vasopressors
• MI
  • over-diagnosis & over-treatment of MI
  • heparin is nonbeneficial for noninvasive tx
  • PCI unhelpful status post CABG
  • EKG patterns of PE that mimic MI
• post-cardiac arrest care: please see neurology section below
• shock, undifferentiated
  • approaching cardiopulmonary failure: which tests are useful?
  • cognitive approach to shock diagnosis with POCUS
• Torsade de Pointes: a better approach

endocrinology

• DKA
  • #1:  DKA pearls
  • #2: dominating the acidosis in DKA
  • ABG/VBG unhelpful in DKA

gastroenterology & nutrition

• abdominal compartment syndrome & fluid overload
• cirrhosis
  • coagulopathy management in cirrhosis
  • secondary bacterial peritonitis
  • ultrasound-guided blakemore tube placement
• hematochezia
  • CT angiogram for evaluation of hematochezia
  • new evidence: Jacovides et al 5/15
• nutrition
  • new guidelines simplify ICU nutrition
  • hypocaloric feeding & tube feed cheat sheet
• pancreatitis
  • please stop the drowning
  • hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis

hematology

• cirrhosis-related coagulopathy & TEG
• sepsis-associated DIC

infectious disease

• antibiotic allergy
  • PCN allergy: strategy
  • ranking antibiotics in order of allergenicity
• antibiotics – specific drugs
  • azithromycin
    • azithromycin doesn't cause torsade or cardiac death
    • brief rant: still no evidence azithro increases mortality
  • double-coverage?
    • fluoroquinolone not helpful for double-coverage
    • double-coverage unnecessary for VAP
  • fluoroquinolones unhelpful in ICU
  • piperacillin-tazobactam isn't nephrotoxic
• pneumonia
  • community-onset PNA
    • MRSA coverage: when needed?
    • treatment overview of severe CAP
    • ultrasonographic patterns of CAP
  • influenza PNA: triple therapy?
  • ventilator-associated PNA
    • double-coverage for VAP unnecessary
• sepsis 
  • definitions & guidelines
    • sepsis 3.0
      • 10 problems with sepsis 3.0 definitions
      • qSOFA fails validation
    • sepsis 4.0: sepsis-HLH overlap syndrome
    • mythbusting the Surviving Sepsis 2016 guidelines
    • petition to retire the surviving sepsis guidelines
  • overview
    • concept: Renoresuscitation & avoidance of chronic sepsis
    • strategy: Accelerated goal directed therapy
  • steroids & metabolic sepsis resus
    • stress-dose steroids: overview 7/15
    • VANISH trial: no effect from steroid?
    • metabolic sepsis resuscitation: evidence for ascorbate
    • ADRENAL trial & implications for metabolic resus
    • APROCCHSS vs. ADRENAL: really discordant?
    • metabolic resuscitation for severe pneumonia?
  • vasopressors
    • angiotensin-II:  caveat emptor
    • epinephrine
      • epinephrine & significance of lactate
      • epinephrine challenge in sepsis
    • high-dose vasopressors: never surrender
    • norepinephrine…early to stabilize MAP
    • peripheral infusions of phenylephrine, epinephrine
    • vasopressin
      • vasopressin… & renal microvascular hemodynamics
      • vasopressin, vepinephrine, & VANISH
      • VANCS trial: vasopressin for post-CABG shock
• toxic shock syndrome
  • diagnosis
  • treatment

nephrology & toxicology

• acid-base status & fluid selection   
  • pH-guided resuscitation  & re-boot after BICAR-ICU
  • is correcting hyperchloremic acidosis beneficial?
  • plasmalyte/normosol vs. LR
  • SPLIT trial: internal vs external validity
  • we should engineer a new crystalloid
  • get SMART: 9 reasons to quit using normal saline
  • don't correct the anion gap for albumin
• contrast nephropathy: does it still exist?
• diuretic resistance & natriuresis
• furosemide stress test to clarify resuscitative goals
• hyperkalemia
  • LR is safe in hyperkalemia
  • management of severe hyperkalemia
  • BRASH syndrome: hyperK + AV blocker
• hyponatremia
  • emergent tx with bicarb ampules
  • taking control with DDAVP
  • unconventional tx with lactulose
• insulin poisoning refractory to glucose
• lithium intoxication: why dialyze if chronic & asymptomatic?
• osmolal gap dogmalysis

neurology & psychiatry

• 10 dubious beliefs in neurocritical care
• alcohol withdrawal & GABA receptor physiology
  • paradoxical reactions due to BZDs & propofol
  • phenobarbital for EtOH w/d  #1 (12/14)
  • phenobarbital for EtOH #2 (monotherapy, 10/15)
  • phenobarbital for EtOH #3 (monotherapy reloaded, 12/17)
• brain death & flow scans
• CNS infections
  • meningitis can benefit from neurocritical care
  • encephalitis rule-out: who needs acyclovir?
• delirium prevention with melatonin?
• gag reflex is useless
• hypertonic saline infusion: rant
• ICP elevation & ocular sonography
• pain, agitation, & sedation
  • analgesia
    • fentanyl infusions vs. ketamine?
    • reengineered analgesic ladder for critical care
  • antipsychotics
    • are haloperidol allergies real?
    • intravenous olanzapine
    • update: IV olanzapine & combo vs. mono-tx
  • dexmedetomidine
    • extubating the agitated patient
  • other interventions: Sleep-protective monitoring
• post-cardiac arrest care
  • 33 vs. 36
    • Top 10 reasons to stop cooling to 33C
    • Pragmatic comparison 33C vs. 36C
  • VSE (vasopressin / steroid / epinephrine)
• status epilepticus
  • 2014: Rapid-sequence termination
  • 2017: Resuscitationist's guide to status
• stroke
  • the fragility index of the NINDS trial 
  • thrombectomy + Thrombolysis for ischemic CVA?

pulmonology

• ABG/VBG 
  • ABG unhelpful in diagnosis of cardiopulmonary failure
  • ABG/VBG unhelpful in DKA
  • oximetry beats PaO2 for assessing oxygenation
  • converting a VBG into an ABG
• ARDS & oxygenation
  • ARDS physiology: what is our oxygenation goal?
  • definition issues:  ARDS vs. pseudoARDS
  • proning the non-intubated patient
  • Oxygen-ICU trial & lower oxygen targets
  • APRV: resurrection of the open lung
• extubation
  • cuff leak & extubation 
  • nocturnal extubation is OK
  • post-extubation HFNC
    • HFNC to avoid reintubation
    • HFNC for early ventilator weaning
    • Hernandez 2016-I: low-risk patients
    • Hernandez 2016-II: high-risk patients
• NIV & high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC)
  • overview:  mastering dark arts of HFNC & BiPAP 
  • dexmedetomidine to facilitate noninvasive ventilation
  • post-extubation HFNC
    • HFNC to avoid reintubation
    • HFNC for early ventilator weaning
    • Hernandez 2016-I: low-risk patients
    • Hernandez 2016-II: high-risk patients
  • HFNC for apneic oxyventilation (more about this under Airway above)
  • HFNC for pneumonia & FLORALI study
• PE 
  • diagnosis: EKG patterns of PE that mimic MI
  • IVC filters: where is the evidence?
  • thrombolysis
    • submassive PE 2014: PEITHO, MOPETT, ULTIMA, TOPCOAT
    • 2016: Controlled thrombolysis I: deconstructing CDT
    • 2016: Controlled thrombolysis II: rationale & protocol
    • 2017: New paradigm: Getting 'em off the cliff
    • Should we monitor fibrinogen during full/half-dose lysis? 
    • (contraindication checklist for thrombolysis)
  • resuscitation: eight pearls for the crashing PE patient
• pleural disease & thoracentesis
  • post-thoracentesis pneumothorax
  • large-volume thoracentesis
  • ultrasound diagnosis of hemopneumothorax
• pneumonia: see above under infectious diseases
• respiratory muscle weakness & respiratory drive
  • tx in Guillain-Barre & Myasthenia
  • optimizing respiratory drive to avoid failure
• upper airway disease
  • angioedema due to ACE-inhibitors
  • flash cigarette burns: is early intubation needed?

resuscitation, logistics, & procedures

• vascular access
  • immediate femoral arterial & venous access
  • central line positioning & ultrasound line confirmation
    • update on ultrasonography for line confirmation 10/16
  • shrug technique for US-guided subclavian lines
• rapid sequence intubation & procedurization

methodology & miscellaneous

• methodology & statistics
  • type-I error
    • demystifying the P-value
    • fragility Index & the NINDS trial
    • interpreting a 2×2 table: P-value, fragility & Bayes
    • 0.050 shades of grey in p-value cutoffs
  • type-II error: power & inconclusive trials
  • mythbusting sensitivity & specificity
  • the fallacy of time-to-intervention studies
• bias
  • investigation bias
  • conflicts of interest, guidelines, and review articles
• endpoints
  • chasing mortality endpoints is a fool's errand
  • secondary endpoints: separating wheat vs. chaff
• philosophy of critical care
  • errors of commission vs. omission
  • the tale of six blind physicians and the elephant
  • graduation speech: why we resuscitate
• conferences
  • Northern New England Crit Care 2017 (Sepsis)
  • Montreal Hospitalist & Resuscitationist Conference #HR2018

translation to other languages 

• German (translated by Urban Bromberger)
  • Adrenaline vs. atropine in bradycardic periarrest
  • Therapy for hyperkalemia in the post-kayexalate era
  • BRASH syndrome
  • Lactated ringers is safe in hyperkalemia
• French
  • Lactated ringers is safe in hyperkalemia (@nfkb)