Image: pipingrock.com Can N-acetylcysteine help prevent exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)? Another randomized trial says yes. N-acetylcysteine, or NAC, is a nutritional supplement with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. After ingestion, N-acetylcysteine is metabolized into glutathione, a key antioxidant with effects throughout the body. In the lungs, glutathione deficiency (common in alcoholics) is linked [… read more]
Source: criticalecho.com Diaphragmatic Ultrasonography to Assess Readiness for Extubation By Muhammad Adrish, MD Weaning a patient from mechanical ventilation is a challenge that intensivists face routinely. Clinical examination and objective measurements like minute ventilation, respiratory rate, maximal inspiratory pressure, and ratio of respiratory rate to tidal volume have all been used with varying reported sensitivity [… read more]
The use of thrombolytics for pulmonary embolism is not controversial — that is, if the PE is massive with hypotension (give thrombolytics) or mild, with normal blood pressure and right ventricular function (don’t give them). It’s the patients with intermediate risk pulmonary emboli — with normal blood pressure but with evidence of right ventricular dysfunction [… read more]
Image: 1800petmeds Systemic steroids in COPD exacerbations requiring ventilator support: Are we treating our patients, or ourselves? By Muhammad Adrish, MD Acute exacerbations of COPD are a major cause of hospitalizations, and are associated with more rapid decline in lung function and reduced survival. Because COPD exacerbations are associated with increased inflammatory responses, corticosteroids have [… read more]
Source: KP Albumin: Better Than Crystalloid in Septic Shock? Human albumin boosts oncotic pressure, and has a number of important biologic functions (protein binding, antioxidant, etc.) that could in theory support the body during critical illness. In the 2004 SAFE study, which tested albumin against crystalloid solutions in ~7,000 critically ill patients of various etiologies, 4% [… read more]
PulmCCM Roundup #3 All the best in pulmonary and critical care we’ve found lately. Browse all the PulmCCM Roundups. Surviving Sepsis Campaign Responds to ProCESS Trial In the wake of the ProCESS trial demonstrating no benefit from use of protocols for septic shock, the Surviving Sepsis Campaign released a statement in which they “continue to recommend [… read more]
Image: EKOS Patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) fall into three general clinical categories: Massive PE, most often defined as hypotension due to right ventricular dysfunction. Short-term mortality is high (more than 1 in 7 die in-hospital). Systemic thrombolytic therapy (tissue plasminogen activator or tPA) is considered standard care by AHA and ACCP, because it [… read more]
PulmCCM Roundup #2 Welcome back to the PulmCCM Roundup, formerly the Critical Care Roundup. Let’s jump right in to issue #2. Browse all the PulmCCM Roundups here. Etomidate for intubation in sepsis: what’s the risk, really? Etomidate has been suspected of causing adrenal insufficiency and potentially death in patients with severe sepsis, when used as an anesthesia-induction agent [… read more]
FDA Warning on Doripenem (Doribax) for VAP In March 2014, the FDA issued a warning statement against Doribax (doripenem) for ventilator associated pneumonia, saying: Doribax carries an increased risk of death and lower clinical cure rates compared to use of imipenem and cilastatin … Doribax is not approved to treat any type of pneumonia. (Doripenem is approved [… read more]
In Septic Shock, Goal of MAP > 65 mm Hg Remains Standard by Abhishek Biswas, MD In the 13 years since Rivers et al published their seminal paper that established “early goal directed therapy” for sepsis as the standard of care, treatment for severe sepsis and septic shock have evolved dramatically. Newer research questions the wisdom [… read more]
May 10th and 11th (pre-congress courses on may 9th), Montreal. Great speakers, great topics, great city, great weather (well…hopefully no snow!). Do you know how to use ultrasound to help you diagnose or manage coma, bowel obstruction, CHF, dyspnea, swollen joints and renal failure, among other things? No matter how good you are at the [… read more]
Can we finally “Just Say No” to the mandatory use of central venous catheters and central venous saturation in severe sepsis and septic shock? by Muhammad Adrish, MD In a single center study published in 2001, Rivers et al reported that patients with severe sepsis and septic shock had significantly lower mortality (30.5% vs 46.5%) [… read more]
Once upon a time in 1964, it was noted that propranolol, a nonselective beta-blocker, could precipitate severe bronchospasm in patients with asthma, especially at high doses. Additional small studies showed propranolol and other nonselective beta blockers could increase airway resistance. British guidelines advise avoiding beta blockers in asthma generally. As a result, beta blockers are [… read more]
Because coagulopathies (an impairment of blood clotting), thrombotic states, and bleeding are all interrelated through the coagulation cascade, and because they occur often in critically ill patients, it makes sense to consider these bleeding and clotting disorders together. Don’t correct coagulopathies in critical illness unless there is a specific reason (e.g., bleeding or an upcoming [… read more]
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is “ordinary” pneumonia, usually (but not always) caused by one of a short list of pathogens susceptible to common antibiotics. Pneumonia remains one of the main reasons for hospital admissions, and causes an estimated 3.5 million deaths yearly, including more than 50,000 in the U.S. Catching pneumonia also increases the risk for [… read more]
Resuscitation fluids may be the most common intervention in critical care, with more than 200 million liters of normal saline infused each year in the U.S. alone. However, there is scarce evidence to guide the best use of resuscitation fluids in the ICU. John Myburgh and Michael Mythen’s review article in the September 26 2013 [… read more]
Blogger Peer Review Corrects NEJM Article’s Error In June 2013, PulmCCM unquestioningly reported the results of a major randomized trial in the New England Journal of Medicine by Susan S. Huang et al, showing that decontaminating patients upon arrival to the ICU with chlorhexidine baths and nasal mupirocin resulted in a dramatic drop in nosocomial infections [… read more]
Welcome to issue #1 of the Critical Care Roundup, a new occasional feature on PulmCCM. Here we’ll touch briefly on all the interesting stuff there wasn’t time to thoroughly review. Got a study that should go in the next roundup? Post a link in the comments or by emailing [email protected] Or, browse all the PulmCCM [… read more]
Image: Dartmouth Nitric Oxide: No Benefit Even in Severe ARDS Giving inhaled nitric oxide to people with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) improves oxygenation, but has never been demonstrated to improve survival. Not many physicians seem to use nitric oxide for ARDS anymore, except possibly as salvage therapy in life-threatening refractory disease. Even that well-meaning [… read more]
The new USPSTF lung cancer screening guidelines are about to produce an enormous wave of abnormal chest CTs, with suspicious pulmonary nodules in millions of current and former U.S. smokers. Many will be surgically removed, and thousands of people will be saved from premature death from lung cancer. That’s great news — mostly. Less widely [… read more]
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