Critical Care Alert – October 1, 2010
October 1, 2010
View Issues
-
Evaluation and Management of Drug Overdose in Adults
Management of patients with accidental or intentional poisoning in drug overdose is a common problem for the intensivist. The actual incidence of poisoning in the United States is unknown because of lack of adequate reporting, but a minimum of several million cases occur annually. The vast majority of these cases do not require ICU admission. -
Abstract & Commentary: Spontaneous Hypothermia After Cardiac Arrest Is a Bad Prognostic Sign
This study from the University of Amsterdam reports outcome data on 105 consecutive patients resuscitated from primary cardiac arrest and treated in the ICU with a protocol of induced mild hypothermia. -
Abstract & Commentary: Is a Central Venous Blood Gas a Useful Surrogate for an Arterial Blood Gas?
The authors set out to compare arterial and central venous blood gases (ABG and VBG, respectively), to evaluate the utility and accuracy of a predefined algorithm for adjusting VBG pH and pCO2 to approximate that of ABG, and to define clinical scenarios where a VBG may not be a useful substitute for an ABG. -
Abstract & Commentary: Endotracheal Tube Size Affects Weaning Predictors
In this secondary analysis of data from a study on the pre-extubation prediction of post-extubation work of breathing in patients recovering from acute respiratory failure, Mehta and colleagues sought to determine whether the size of a patient's endotracheal tube (ETT) affected respiratory rate, tidal volume, and other "weaning parameters" commonly measured during spontaneous breathing and used to predict successful extubation. -
Pharmacology Watch: Antiviral Medications Not Associated with Birth Defects
In this issue: Antiviral drugs and birth defects, bisphosphonates and esophageal cancer, naltrexone plus bupropion for weight loss, 2010-11 influenza vaccine, FDA Actions. -
Clinical Briefs in Primary Care supplement