UMEM Educational Pearls

Title: Predicting peri-Intubation hypotension

Category: Critical Care

Keywords: peri-Intubation, shock index (PubMed Search)

Posted: 2/7/2017 by Rory Spiegel, MD
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Identifying patients at risk of hypotension during intubation is not always straight forward. The prevalence of peri-intubation hypotension in the Emergency Department has been demonstrated to be approximately 20%.1 And while certain variables increase the likelihood of peri-intubation hypotension (ex. Shock index> 0.80), no single factor predicts it accurately enough to be used at the bedside.2 In the majority of patients undergoing intubation, clinicians should be prepared for peri-intubation hypotension with either vasopressor infusions or push dose pressors.

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While lung protective ventilatory strategies have long been accepted as vital to the management of patients undergoing mechanical ventilation, the translation of such practices to the Emergency Department is still limited and inconsistent.

Fuller et al employed a protocol ensuring lung-protective tidal volumes, appropriate setting of positive end-expiratory pressure, rapid weaning of FiO2, and elevating the head-of-bed. The authors found that the number of patients who had lung protective strategies employed in the Emergency Department increased from 46.0% to 76.7%. This increase in protective strategies was associated with a 7.1% decrease in the rate of pulmonary complications (ARDS and VACs), 14.5% vs 7.4%, and a 14.3% decrease in in-hospital mortality, 34.1% vs 19.6%.

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Title: Fulcrum test

Category: Orthopedics

Posted: 10/1/2017 by Brian Corwell, MD (Updated: 12/12/2024)
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https://www.physio-pedia.com/Fulcrum_Test



Title: Morel-Lavall e lesion

Category: Orthopedics

Posted: 10/1/2017 by Brian Corwell, MD (Updated: 12/12/2024)
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4126145/



Question

33 y/o M with PMH of ETOH induced pancreatitis presents with epigastic/RUQ pain & N/V after drinking last night, per patient his usual “pancreas pain”. The nurse shows you his blood tubes because they look “milky”. Lipase 1200, Ca 6.8.

 



What lab test would you add?

 

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Title:

Category: Critical Care

Keywords: Alarm Fatigue (PubMed Search)

Posted: 5/20/2019 by Robert Brown, MD (Updated: 12/12/2024)
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In a study of alarms from 77 monitored ICU beds over the course of a month at the University of California, San Francisco, false alarms were common. Accellerated Ventircular Rhythms (AVRs) made up roughly one third of the alarms, and of the more than 4,361 AVRs, 94.9% were false while the remaining 5.1% did not result in a clinical action.

While this study had a majority of patients in the Med/Surg ICUs, a minority were from the cardiac and neurologic ICUs giving it some broad applicability. This study adds to the literature indicating there are subsets of alarms which may not be necessary or which may require adjustment to increase specificity.

Suba S, Sandoval CS, Zegre-Hemsey J, et al. Contribution of Electrocardiographic Accelerated Ventricular Rhythm Alarms to Alarm Fatigue. American Journal of Critical Care. 2019; 28(3):222-229

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Title:

Category: Critical Care

Keywords: Botulism, IVDA (PubMed Search)

Posted: 7/2/2019 by Robert Brown, MD
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Don’t miss the injecting drug users with botulism!

Wound botulism presents as descending paralysis when Clostridium botulinum spores germinate in anaerobic necrotic tissue. There have been hundreds of cases in the last decade, but it is poorly reported outside of California.

Black tar heroin and subcutaneous injection (“skin popping”) carry the highest risk, but other injected drugs and other types of drug use suffice. C botulinum spores are viable unless cooked at or above 85°C for 5 minutes or longer and this is not achieved when cooking drugs. 

Early administration of botulism anti-toxin (BAT) not only saves lives but can prevent paralysis and mechanical ventilation. An outbreak of 9 cases between September 2017 and April 2018 cost roughly $2.3 million, in part because patients didn’t present on average until 48 hours after symptom onset and it took an additional 2-4 days before the true cause of their respiratory depression and lethargy were understood. One patient died.

PEARL: talk to your injecting drug users about the symptoms of botulism: muscle weakness, difficulty swallowing, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, loss of facial expression, descending paralysis, and difficulty breathing. Consider botulism early in your patients who inject drugs but who do not respond to naloxone or who exhibit prolonged symptoms. Testing at the health department is performed with mouse antibodies to Botulism Neurotoxin (BoNT) combined with the patient’s serum.

 

 

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Title:

Category: Critical Care

Keywords: amikacin, Torsades de pointes, QT prolongation (PubMed Search)

Posted: 8/20/2019 by Quincy Tran, MD, PhD
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Torsades de pointes and QT prolongation Associated with Antibiotics

 

Methods

The authors queried the United States FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) from 01/01/2015 to 12/31/2017 for reports of Torsade de points/QT prolongation (TdP/QT).

Reporting Odd Ratio (ROR) was calculated as the ratio of the odds of reporting TdP/QTP versus all other ADRs for a given drug, compared with these reporting odds for all other drugs present in FAERS

Results

FAERS contained 2,042,801 reports from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017. There were 3,960 TdP/QTP reports from the study period (0.19%).

 

Macrolides               ROR 14 (95% CI 11.8-17.38)

Linezolid                  ROR 12 (95% CI 8.5-18)

Amikacin                 ROR 11.8 (5.57-24.97)

Imipenem-cilastatin ROR 6.6 (3.13-13.9)

Fluoroquinolones   ROR 5.68 (95% CI 4.78-6.76)

 

Limitations:

These adverse events are voluntary reports

There might be other confounded by concomitant drugs such as ondansetron, azole anti-fungals, antipsychotics.

 

Bottom Line:

This study confimed the previously-known antibiotics to be associated with Torsades de pointes and QT prolongation (Macrolides, Linezolid, Imipenem and Fluoroquinolones). However, this study  found new association between amikacin and Torsades de pointes/QT prolongation.

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Title: Spider bite

Category: Toxicology

Posted: 9/5/2019 by Kathy Prybys, MD (Updated: 12/12/2024)
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Question

A 3 year old is bitten by a spider on his right ear which is causing him intense pain, tachycardia, and muscle cramping. Identify the spider.  What is the treatment?

 

 

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Title:

Category: Critical Care

Keywords: Right Ventricle, RV Size (PubMed Search)

Posted: 11/5/2019 by Kim Boswell, MD
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Rapid Assessment of the RV on Bedside Echo

There are several causes of acute RV dysfunction resulting in a patient presenting to the ER with unstable hemodynamics. Some of these include acute cor pulmonale, acute right sided myocardial infarction and acute submassive or massive pulmonary embolism. While bedside assessment of the LV function is often performed by the ED physician, simultaneous evaluation of the RV can provide crucial information that can help guide therapeutic decisions to prevent worsening of the patient’s clinical condition. A rough guideline to determine RV size and function is below using the apical 4 chamber view.

Normal RV size :            <2/3 the size of the LV

Mildly enlarged RV :       >2/3 the size of the LV, but not equal in size

Moderately enlarged RV:  RV size = LV size

Severely enlarged RV:      RV size > LV size

Patients who are found to have RV dilation should be given fluids in a judicious fashion as the RV is not tolerant of fluid overload. Early diagnosis of the cause of acute RV failure should be sought to guide definitive therapy, but early institution of inotropic support should be considered. Frequent reassessments of biventricular function during resuscitation should be performed.

 

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While chest X ray (CXR) is routinely obtained in the setting of traumatic injury, ultrasound (US) is a fast and reliable way to evaluate for life-threatening traumatic injuries requiring emergent intervention, and is supported by the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) guidelines. A recent Cochrane Review compared the test characteristics of chest US vs CXR for detection of traumatic pneumothorax when using Chest CT or thoracostomy as the gold standard.

  • Primary end point: sensitivity and specificity for pneumothorax
  • US performed by nonradiologists.
  • 9 studies, 1271 patients, 410 of which had a pneumothorax
  • Summary sensitivity: US 0.91 (95% CI 0.85-0.94), ranging from  0.82-0.98 in the included studies, vs. CXR 0.47 (95% CI 0.31- 0.63) ranging from 0.09 to 0.75
  • Summary specificity: US 0.99 (95% CI 0.97-1.00, ranging from  0.96-1.00 vs. CXR 1.00 (95% CI 0.97- 1.00), ranging from 0.98 to 1.00

There possible weaknesses of this study, including blinding in the original studies, and several studies may or may not have been at risk for bias as their risk of bias was ‘unclear’.  However, the results were consistent across the studies analyzed and remained similar after sensitivity analysis.

Several anatomical as well as patient care issues may confound US findings for pneumothorax such as the presence of bleb, prior thoracic surgery or pathology, as well as main stem intubation.

Bottom line:  While the presence of pneumothorax is on either CXR or US is highly likely to represent the a true pneumothorax, ultrasound is a far superior screen for the detection of pneumothorax in the trauma patient.

 

 

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A recent article in Pediatrics attempted to estimate the association between fluoroquinolone use and tendon injury in an adolescent population.

Fluoroquinolones are thought to negatively impact tendons and cartilage in the load-bearing joints of the lower limbs through collagen degradation, necrosis, and disruption of the extracellular matrix.

Population: 4.4 million adolescents aged 12–18 years with filled outpatient fluoroquinolone prescription vs. an oral broad-spectrum antibiotic for comparison.

Fluoroquinolones included ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, and gatifloxacin

Comparator antibiotics included amoxicillin-clavulanate, azithromycin, cefalexin, cefixime, cefdinir, nitrofurantoin, and bactrim.

Outcomes: Primary outcome was 90-day tendon rupture (Achilles, patellar, quadricep, patellar, tibial) identified by diagnosis and procedure codes. Secondary outcome was tendinitis.

Results: The weighted 90-day tendon rupture risk was 13.6 per 100 000 fluoroquinolone-treated adolescents and 11.6 per 100 000 comparator-treated adolescents.

Fluoroquinolone-associated excess risk: 1.9 per 100 000 adolescents; the corresponding number needed to treat to harm was 52 632.

The weighted 90-day tendinitis risk was 200.8 per 100 000 fluoroquinolone-treated adolescents and 178.1 per 100 000 comparator-treated adolescents

Fluoroquinolone-associated excess risk excess risk: 22.7 per 100 000 adolescents; the corresponding number needed to treat to harm was 4405.

Conclusion:

The excess risk of tendon rupture associated with fluoroquinolone treatment was extremely small, and these events were rare. On average, 50,000 adolescents would need to be treated with a fluoroquinolone for 1 additional tendon rupture to occur

The excess risk of tendinitis associated with fluoroquinolone treatment though larger was also small.

Besides tendon rupture, other more common potential adverse drug effects may be more important to consider for treatment decision-making, in adolescents without other risk factors for tendon injury.

 

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Title: Apnea and bronchiolitis

Category: Pediatrics

Keywords: hospitalization, RSV, bronchiolitis (PubMed Search)

Posted: 12/17/2021 by Jenny Guyther, MD (Updated: 12/12/2024)
Click here to contact Jenny Guyther, MD

Typical admission considerations for patients with bronchiolitis are work of breathing, hypoxia, and dehydration.  The patients risk of apnea should also be considered.  Younger infants with bronchiolitis are at a risk for apnea.  Studies have cited anywhere from a 16-25% risk in younger infants.  The problem lies in identifying those patients who are at risk and those who are not.  This older study looked at 691 infants and developed criteria which identified all of the 2.7% of patients who developed apnea.
The high risk criteria used in this study were: 1) Full term and younger than 1 month; 2) Born < 37 weeks gestation and younger than 48 weeks post conception or 3) Parents already noted an episode of apnea with this illness.
Bottom line: Incorporate the infants risk of apnea into your disposition decision for patients with bronchiolitis.

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Pulmonary Embolism 

  • In patients with high pretest probability and abnormal vital signs think about cardiac evaluation for pulmonary embolism. McConnell’s sign is most specific but can also be found in acute RCA infarct. TAPSE < 1.8 cm is also a good identifier of RV strain. Remember that patients with COPD or Pulm Htn may have RV dilation at baseline. You may also want to risk stratify patients with PE with labs as well as lower extremity dvt studies. 
  • Let’s give a shout out to Ashley Pickering who recently took some awesome echo images of a patient with a known saddle embolism. 

 

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Title: Injury score comparable geriatric vs non-geriatric patients: Over 65 years do much worse

Category: Trauma

Keywords: geriatric, trauma, orthopedic injury, injury severity score (PubMed Search)

Posted: 11/5/2022 by Robert Flint, MD (Updated: 12/9/2022)
Click here to contact Robert Flint, MD

Trauma patients over age 65 should be cared for by a multidisciplinary trauma team. Here is another study affirming that patients over age 65 do worse when having similar injuries to those under 65. Interestingly, those under 65 had more operative repairs of their orthopedic injuries as well.  

The authors conclude: “Although the ISS and NISS were similar, mortality was significantly higher among patients aged ≥ 65 years compared to patients < 65 years of age”.

 Also it bears further investigation of why those under 65 received more operative repairs

 

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