Management of Life-Threatening Asthma: Severe Asthma Series.

Asthma exacerbations can be life-threatening, with 25,000 to 50,000 such patients per year requiring admission to an ICU in the United States. Appropriate triage of life-threatening asthma is dependent on both static assessment of airway function and dynamic assessment of response to therapy. Treatment strategies focus on achieving effective bronchodilation with inhaled β-agonists, muscarinic antagonists, and magnesium sulphate while reducing inflammation with systemic corticosteroids.

Understanding the Opioid Epidemic: Factors Predictive of Inpatient and Postdischarge Prescription Opioid Use After Orthopaedic Trauma.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine which factors influence inpatient and postdischarge opioid use after orthopaedic trauma.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Single Level 1 trauma center.

Indications for CT-Angiography of the Vertebral Arteries After Trauma.

Study Design: Retrospective.

Objective: The purpose of this project is to identify factors that predict vertebral artery injury (VAI) in an effort to assess risks and benefits of computed tomography angiography (CT-A) of the neck in the trauma setting. We seek to develop guidelines for practitioners to stratify patients at medium/high risk of VAI from those who are at low risk.

Operative Versus Nonoperative Management of Civilian Gunshot Wounds to the Spinal Cord: Novel Use of the Functional Independence Measure for Validated Outcomes.

Background: Surgery for patients with gunshot wound spinal cord injury (GSCI) remains controversial. Few recent studies provide standardized follow-up and detailed functional outcomes. To our knowledge, the research we present in this study is unique in that we are the first to incorporate Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores as an outcomes measure for neurologic recovery in patients with GSCI.