Hospital Medicine Alert – January 1, 2010

January 1, 2010

• Noncardiac Surgery in Patients with Coronary Stents

  Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with bare-metal stents (BMS) or drug-eluting stents (DES) remains the most common method of coronary revascularization.

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• Influenza H1N1 Can Hurt Muscles Bad

  It has been known for decades that influenza viruses have a propensity to affect muscle. Muscle aches from mild to severe occur regularly with the acute attack of the virus.

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• Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis: Do No Harm

  A single-center, retrospective, observational study found that stress ulcer prophylaxis is used in a majority of ICU patients, despite absence of risk factors for stress ulcers.

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• Both Hyponatremia and Hypernatremia at ICU Admission Predict Poor Outcome

  > In this study of initial serum sodium values in more than 150,000 adults admitted to ICUs, both hyponatremia (Na < 130 mmol/L) and hypernatremia (Na > 150 mmol/L) were associated with substantially increased ICU and hospital mortality.

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• Do You Come to Work When You're Sick?

  Most respondents in this survey of medical students, residents, and staff physicians reported coming to work when they had a respiratory tract infection, with staff physicians most likely to do so.

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