Category Archives: Intensive Care

ECMO – MIXING IT UP

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Thomas D

ECMO is all the rage, and ScanCrit is a fanatical believer. However, ECMO has its problems and challenges. The challenge we’ll look into here, is choosing between VV or VA ECMO – sometimes the choice is straightforward, other times not. … Continue reading →

Posted in ECMO, Intensive Care | Leave a comment

AVOID THE OXYGEN REFLEX

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Thomas D

We’ve been waiting for the AVOID study, since we mentioned it a few years ago in another post on the harm of excessive oxygen. AVOID (Air Versus Oxygen in Myocardial Infarction). Now, it’s out. As expected, it shows that unnecessary … Continue reading →

Posted in Cardiology, Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care | 28 Comments

I AM THE RESURRECTION

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Thomas D

If you make a study on interventions on dead people, you don’t expect much. Well, the Alfred in Melbourne did such a study – and got a resurrection rate of over 50%! Their intervention group was people in refractory cardiac … Continue reading →

Posted in Cardiology, ECLS, ECMO, Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care | 1 Comment

THE BOTTOM LINE

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Thomas D

While we at ScanCrit were thinking about what a great idea it would be, The Bottom Line just went ahead and did it. And they’re still doing it: Making a library of the key articles and most important trials in … Continue reading →

Posted in Intensive Care | Leave a comment

DEATH TO THE YELLOW CATHETER OF DEATH

Posted on July 27, 2014 by K

It’s not news but I recommend you read Paul E Marik’s review of the Pulmonary Artery Catheter (PAC) from Annals of Intensive Care 2013. Basically he tears the whole thing apart, writes an obituary and suggest we make it a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cardiology, Intensive Care | Leave a comment

STEWART’S ACID TRIP

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Thomas D

Acid-base calculations. The ones that make my head hurt. Every time I read up on it, I seem to almost grasp it and get a deeper understanding – which slips away slightly after a week or two. And a few … Continue reading →

Posted in Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care | 2 Comments

COPD ICU MORTALITY

Posted on June 11, 2014 by K

In intensive care, we are often called to deal with marginal or crashing COPD patients. Often, we end up intubating them. Then, in the morning rounds there always seems to be at least one passive-aggressive (†) colleague in the back, shaking … Continue reading →

Posted in Airway management, Intensive Care | 1 Comment

ELECTROLARYNX – TALK WHILE INTUBATED

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Thomas D

For awake, intubated patients a great frustration is the inability to speak. A great little report in NEJM shows a novel use of the electrolarynx – that little device some laryngectomised patients hold to their neck to produce robot sounding … Continue reading →

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THE MOTTLING SCORE

Posted on April 19, 2014 by K

Several methods have been developed for identifying and quantifying microcirculatory dysfunction in septic shock. We can measure buccal, sublingual and subcutaneous microcirculatory CO2-levels. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measures microcirculatory hemoglobin saturation. Sidestream dark field (SDF) imaging directly visualises the microcirculation. … Continue reading →

Posted in Emergency Medicine, Infectious diseases, Intensive Care | Leave a comment

SEPSIS PROGRESS

Posted on April 8, 2014 by K

The PROCESS and SEPSISPAM studies were serious blows to protocol EGD therapy in sepsis. With all the other dead ends we pursued (activated protein C, colloids, intensive insulin therapy, cortisone and what not) it is tempting to think that little … Continue reading →

Posted in Infectious diseases, Intensive Care | Leave a comment