Tactical Medicine News Blog

Background: Use of contrast media in CT scans has been cited as one of the most common causes of iatrogenic acute kidney injury.  Its use however improves the diagnostic accuracy of CT scans.  Some studies have even reported an incidence of contrast induced nephropathy (CIN) as high as 14%.  Many of the studies coming to these conclusions were performed before the use of low- and iso-osmolar contrast agents. Also to date, all controlled studies on this topic have been observational and not randomized controlled trials.  More recent propensity-scored analyses have had conflicting results. One study found no increased risk of acute kidney injury, dialysis or mortality regardless of baseline renal function, while others have found increased acute kidney injury in patients with renal dysfunction. This current study tried to clarify the incidence of acute kidney injury attributable to IV contrast media administration.

Background: Etomidate and ketamine are both routinely used as induction agents during rapid sequence intubation (RSI) in trauma patients. It is well established that etomidate transiently suppresses the adrenal gland through inhibition of the 11-beta hydroxylase enzyme. Though adrenal suppression in theory can cause deleterious outcomes, there is no high-quality evidence demonstrating a change in patient centered outcomes with it’s use in comparison to alternate agents. Ketamine has long been an alternative induction agent to etomidate but historical concerns, though disproven in more recent literature, limited it’s use due to concerns over increasing intracranial pressure.

Pediatric community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is an acute, common, and potentially serious infection of the pulmonary parenchyma in children. In November 2010, the American Academy of Pediatrics endorsed “The management of community-acquired pneumonia in infants and children older than 3 months of age: clinical practice guidelines by the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.” [PDF]1Based on this guideline, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Emergency Medicine’s Committee on Quality Transformation developed a clinical algorithm for CAP in the ED setting.

Over 1,300 physicians across the U.S. were asked to interpret patient preferences for end-of-life care in theoretical cases. Physicians rarely reached consensus about patient preferences when they were given only living wills and POLST documents to interpret. The addition of a patient video testimonial helped physicians make better care decisions that reflected their patients’ wishes. Will video become the new national standard for advance care planning?

I remember when I started practicing emergency medicine a decade and a half ago it seemed that any kid who came to our ED in cardiac arrest died. I know, depressing thought. But, over the past 15 years, survival to discharge from pediatric cardiac arrest has markedly improved, at least for in-hospital arrests. This is probably mostly due to an emphasis on high-quality CPR and advances in post-resuscitation care; nonetheless the more comfortable, knowledgeable and prepared we are for the always scary critically ill pediatric patient, the more likely we will be able to resuscitate them successfully - which is always a huge save. The post Episode 93 – PALS Guidelines appeared first on Emergency Medicine Cases.