Invasive Arterial BP Measurements in the Emergency Department-When, if Ever, is it Indicated?

Purpose Of Review: Extremes of blood pressure (BP) are common among patients that visit emergency departments. In this review article, we discuss the specific indications for invasive blood pressure monitoring in the ED, particularly in the context of undifferentiated shock and hypertensive emergencies.

Recent Findings: In most cases, non-invasive techniques suffice for blood pressure monitoring, however, in certain patient presentations intermittent automated oscillometry bears significant drawbacks.

Teaching and Assessing Bedside Procedures: A Standardized Cross-Disciplinary Framework for Graduate Medical Education.

Performing bedside procedures requires knowledge, reasoning, physical adeptness, and self-confidence; however, no consensus on a specific, comprehensive strategy for bedside procedure training and implementation is available. Bedside procedure training and credentialing processes across large institutions may vary among departments and specialties, leading to variable standards, creating an environment that lacks consistent accountability, and making quality improvement difficult. In this Scholarly Perspective, the authors describe a standardized bedside procedure training and certification process for graduate medical education with a common, institution-wide educational framework for teaching and assessing the following 7 important bedside procedures: paracentesis; thoracentesis; central venous catheterization; arterial catheterization; bladder catheterization or Foley catheterization; lumbar puncture; and nasogastric, orogastric, and nasoenteric tube placement.

Cardiac Arrest as the First Presentation of Gitelman Syndrome.

Gitelman syndrome is a salt-wasting tubulopathy characterized by profound hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, metabolic alkalosis, and hypocalciuria. Cardiac arrest is a relatively rare manifestation of Gitelman syndrome. Here we present a case of Gitelman syndrome in a patient with recurrent cardiac arrest.

A roadmap for developing an emergency department based critical care consultation service: Building the early intervention team (EIT).

Emergency Department (ED) crowding and boarding impact safe and effective health care delivery. ED clinicians must balance caring for new arrivals who require stabilization and resuscitation as well as those who need longitudinal care and re-evaluation. These challenges are magnified in the setting of critically ill patients boarding for the intensive care unit.

Neurological monitoring in ECMO patients: current state of practice, challenges and lessons.

Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in critically ill patients serves as a management option for end-stage cardiorespiratory failure in medical and surgical conditions. Patients on ECMO are at a high risk of neurologic adverse events including intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), acute ischemic stroke (AIS), seizures, diffuse cerebral edema, and hypoxic brain injury. Standard approaches to neurological monitoring for patients receiving ECMO support can be challenging for multiple reasons, including the severity of critical illness, deep sedation, and/or paralysis.

Prospective Validation of a Rapid Host Gene Expression Test to Discriminate Bacterial From Viral Respiratory Infection.

Importance: Bacterial and viral causes of acute respiratory illness (ARI) are difficult to clinically distinguish, resulting in the inappropriate use of antibacterial therapy. The use of a host gene expression-based test that is able to discriminate bacterial from viral infection in less than 1 hour may improve care and antimicrobial stewardship.

Objective: To validate the host response bacterial/viral (HR-B/V) test and assess its ability to accurately differentiate bacterial from viral infection among patients with ARI.

Accelerated Critical Therapy Now in the Emergency Department Using an Early Intervention Team: The Impact of Early Critical Care Consultation for ICU Boarders.

Unlabelled: Evaluate the impact of an emergency department (ED)-based critical care consultation service, hypothesizing early consultation results in shorter hospital length of stay (LOS).

Design: Retrospective observational study from February 2018 to 2020.

Setting: An urban academic quaternary referral center.

While You Don't See Color, I See Bias: Identifying Barriers in Access to Graduate Medical Education Training.

There is a need to acknowledge and address issues of implicit and explicit bias within medical education. These biases can impact standardized test questions and scores, evaluations of clinical performance, and subsequent letters of recommendation, all of which can affect the selection of diverse candidates advancing through medical training. Biased behavior toward trainees can negatively impact their learning environment and career trajectory.

Racial Differences in a Detroit, MI, ICU Population of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients.

Objectives: To investigate the potential influence of racial differences in outcomes of patients infected by coronavirus disease 2019-positive patients who require intensive care in an urban hospital.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Henry Ford Health System Multidisciplinary ICU, a total of 156 beds spread throughout the hospital in Detroit, MI.

Critical Care Delivery Solutions in the Emergency Department: Evolving Models in Caring for ICU Boarders.

The National Academy of Medicine has identified emergency department (ED) crowding as a health care delivery problem. Because the ED is a portal of entry to the hospital, 25% of all ED encounters are related to critical illness. Crowding at both an ED and hospital level can thus lead to boarding of a number of critically ill patients in the ED.

The ED-SED Study: A Multicenter, Prospective Cohort Study of Practice Patterns and Clinical Outcomes Associated With Emergency Department SEDation for Mechanically Ventilated Patients.

Objectives: To characterize emergency department sedation practices in mechanically ventilated patients, and test the hypothesis that deep sedation in the emergency department is associated with worse outcomes.

Design: Multicenter, prospective cohort study.

Setting: The emergency department and ICUs of 15 medical centers.

Early goal-directed therapy in severe sepsis and septic shock: insights and comparisons to ProCESS, ProMISe, and ARISE.

Prior to 2001 there was no standard for early management of severe sepsis and septic shock in the emergency department. In the presence of standard or usual care, the prevailing mortality was over 40-50 %. In response, a systems-based approach, similar to that in acute myocardial infarction, stroke and trauma, called early goal-directed therapy was compared to standard care and this clinical trial resulted in a significant mortality reduction.

Delayed intracranial hemorrhage in the anticoagulated patient: A systematic review.

Background: A significant population of elderly Americans on warfarin is at risk for immediate and delayed intracranial hemorrhage. This qualitative systematic review ascertains the delayed intracranial hemorrhage risk associated with minor head injury and preinjury warfarin use.

Methods: A systematic review using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library was performed in August 2014.

Novel Use of Glidescope Indirect Laryngoscopy for Insertion of a Minnesota Tube for Variceal Bleeding.

Background: With improvements in endoscopic and interventional radiologic therapies, insertion of gastroesophageal balloon tamponade catheters, commonly known as Sengstaken-Blakemore or Minnesota tubes, is a rarely performed procedure for esophageal or gastric variceal bleeding. In small hospitals or freestanding emergency departments, endoscopic or interventional radiology (IR) therapies might not be available, so patients with exsanguinating variceal bleeding must be stabilized or temporized for transport to larger hospitals. Occasionally, tamponade devices are necessary as a rescue therapy for failed endoscopic or IR therapies or can be used as definitive therapy in select cases.