IV Thiamine fails again in Septic Shock

Miyamoto, Yoshihisa, Aso, Shotaro et el published results of retrospective Cohort study in critical care medicine. With ongoing covid 19, all possible medications are being tried for which they were not originally intended. Similarly several medications have been tried in septic shock but failed. Recent trial was discussed here. Given there was a lot of … Read more

Mechanical ventilation without sedation

Hanne T. Olsen, Helene K. Nedergaard et el published a trial of no sedation versus light sedation in mechanically ventilated patients in NEJM. WHAT Multi center  randomized controlled trial,  in a 1 : 1 ratio,  comparing be mechanically ventilated ICU patients to  no sedation  versus  light sedation strategy( RASS  Richmond agitation and sedation Scale score … Read more

Vit C fails to deliver- VITAMINS trial

Tomoko Fujii,  Nora Luethi,  Paul J. Young et al  published the results of   much awaited VITAMINS (The Vitamin C, Hydrocortisone and Thiamine in Patients With Septic Shock) trial.   WHAT It was an investigator-initiated, multicenter, open-label, parallel-group randomized trial comparing vitamin-C, thiamine and hydrocortisone to hydrocortisone alone in patients with septic shock. WHERE 10 intensive … Read more

Balanced crystalloids are gaining ground in sepsis?

Brown RM, Wang L, Coston TD , Krishnan NI et el published a secondary analysis of patients from SMART (Isotonic Solutions and Major Adverse Renal Events Trial) admitted with sepsis to ICU. Original  smart trial  was published in 2017,  which is discussed here .  A total of 15,802 patients  were enrolled in the trial.  It was a pragmatic, cluster-level … Read more

‘Wrong-Pipe’ Intubation Deaths still common

ProPublica published research done by Dr. Nick Asselin on cardiac arrests in Rhode Island and found esophageal intubation by EMS providers in 12 cases.  All of the patients died.  This story brings the attention back to skills needed to correctly intubate the patient in setting of stress of ongoing CPR. RESEARCH Rhode Island is the … Read more

2019 Focused update on Advanced cardiac life support

American Heart Association published focused update on Advanced Cardiac Life Support in conjunction with 2019 international consensus on cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care science with treatment recommendation from International liaison committee on resuscitation(ILCOR). This focus update  provide new recommendations for use of advanced airways, vasopressors and extracorporeal CPR( ECPR).  Rest of the guidelines remain … Read more

Prevention of Early Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia after Cardiac Arrest

Bruno François, Alain Cariou, Raphaël Clere-Jehl et el published a trial of  intravenous amoxicillin-clavulanate versus placebo  in patients undergoing  targeted temperature management and mechanical ventilation for out of hospital cardiac arrest  with shockable rhythm. BACKGROUND  Targeted temperature management remains  cornerstone of therapy for  out of hospital cardiac arrest.  however targeted temperature management is associated with … Read more

IDSA/ATS guidelines for community acquired pneumonia

Joshua P. Metlay, Grant W. Waterer, Ann C. Long et el published the official IDSA /ATS guidelines for treatment of community-acquired pneumonia. BACKGROUND Last IDSA/ATS Guidelines for community-acquired pneumonia were updated in 2007 . In 2016,  IDSA/ATS updated guidelines on  ventilator-associated pneumonia as well as Hospital-acquired pneumonia which were discussed in comparison with European guidelines here. … Read more

Targeted Temperature Management in Cardiac Arrest with Nonshockable Rhythm

J.B. Lascarrou, H. Merdji, A. Le Gouge et el published the results of HYPERION (Hypothermia after Cardiac Arrest in Nonshockable Rhythm) trial in NEJM. WHAT Open-label, randomized, controlled trial comparing moderate therapeutic hypothermia (33°C during the first 24 hours) with targeted normothermia (37°C) in adult patients with coma(GCS <8) after resuscitation from cardiac arrest with … Read more

Vitamin C in sepsis- Answer is elusive

Alpha A. Fowler , Jonathon D. Truwit , R. Duncan Hite et el published results of CITRIS-ALI trial in JAMA on Oct1, 2019. WHAT It was a randomized double blind placebo controlled multi Center trial  conducted in 7 medical ICUs in the USA,  comparing placebo to  vitamin-C infusion( 50 milligram/kilogram,  every 6 hours for 96 … Read more

Critical care trials which showed reduced mortality

Carlos A. Santacruz, Adriano J. Pereira et el published a systematic review in Critical Care Medicine about trials which showed reduced mortality. All trials published since inception to April, 2019 were searched in MEDLINE and pubmed (Adult, multicenter randomized controlled). A total of 212 trials were included. 27 trials reported reduction in mortality. 16 trials … Read more

Inferior Vena Caval filters in Severely injured patients

Kwok M. Ho, Sudhakar Rao, Stephen Honeybul Whereet el published results of a multicenter randomized trial of early prophylactic IVC filters in severely injured patients with contraindication to anticoagulation  in NEJM. BACKGROUND Venous thromboembolism is very common after major trauma and leads to major morbidity and mortality. In the prospective study of trauma patients who … Read more