Hospital Medicine Alert – October 1, 2012
October 1, 2012
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Crystalloid Solutions Still Better than Colloid Solutions for Fluid Resuscitation
This blinded, randomized, controlled trial reports a higher risk of mortality, need for renal replacement therapy, and blood product transfusion in patients treated with the colloid solution hydroxyethyl starch compared to those treated with the crystalloid solution Ringers acetate. -
ICU Admission or General Ward for Diabetic Ketoacidosis? The Answer Varies Dramatically in Different Hospitals
In a large cohort of patients admitted to New York hospitals with diabetic ketoacidosis, about half were admitted to the ICU, with a range of 2% to 88% among individual hospitals. This large practice variation was unassociated with mortality or length of stay, and more than half of it remained unaccounted for after extensive adjustments for patient and institutional characteristics. -
Nasal site MRSA surveillance may miss colonization
Nasal swabs identified only two-thirds of MRSA carriers. -
U.S. Rabies Update: Survival from Rabies, and Death in a Haitian Woman
An 8-year-old girl from rural California who had been scratched by unvaccinated cats developed flaccid paralysis and rabies encephalitis. She was treated with a therapeutic coma protocol and survived after a 52-day hospitalization. -
ECG Review: Why Is the Rhythm VT?
Scenario: The ECG shown above was obtained from a patient whose blood pressure was dropping. How many reasons can you cite to support a diagnosis of ventricular tachycardia (VT)? -
Clinical Briefs in Primary Care Supplement
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Pharmacology Watch: Statins and Cognition — More to the Story?
Side effects of statins; effects of cannabis use; antihypertensives and lip cancer; and FDA actions.