Reevaluation of the utilization of arterial blood gas analysis in the Intensive Care Unit: effects on patient safety and patient outcome.

Purpose: Arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis is a useful tool to evaluate hypercapnia in the context of conditions and diseases affecting the lungs. Oftentimes, indications for ABG analysis are broad and nonspecific and lead to frequent testing without test results influencing patient management.

Materials And Methods: Electronic charts of 300 intensive care unit (ICU) patients at a single institution were reviewed retrospectively.

Anaphylaxis.

Background: Anaphylaxis is the quintessential critical illness in emergency medicine. Symptoms are rapid in onset and death can occur within minutes. Approximately 1500 patients die annually in the United States from this deadly disorder.

Back pain emergencies.

Most adults in the United States will experience an episode of back pain at some point during their lifetime. Most will present to their primary care physician for evaluation and treatment. Many patients have non-life-threatening etiologies and recover within 4 to 6 weeks.