by Jim Yang, Kaitlin Endres, Josee Malette | Nov 19, 2020 | Critical Care, Featured, Grand Round Summaries, Medical Education, Thrombosis
Pulmonary embolism is often a nebulous diagnosis with various nuances. COMMON: They affect 25-100 people per 100,000, or approximately 30,000 Canadians every year Potentially FATAL: 3rd most deadly cardiovascular disease, after Heart Attack and Stroke Associated with...
by Hans Rosenberg | Nov 16, 2020 | Critical Care, Journal Club, Resuscitation, Thrombosis, Trauma
Methodology: 4/5 Usefulness: 3.5/5 Baksaas-Aasen K, et al. Intensive Care Med. 2020 Oct 13. doi: 10.1007/s00134-020-06266-1. Question and Methods: Pragmatic, European, multi-center RCT comparing outcomes in trauma patients who received empiric massive transfusion...
by Simon Wells, Pascale King | Oct 22, 2020 | Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Critical Care, Featured, Grand Round Summaries
A 65-year-old male self-presents to the Emergency Department (ED) with sudden-onset severe chest pain. The pain was sharp, lasted 30 minutes, and has now resolved. His vitals and ECG are normal, and his high-sensitivity troponin testing is negative. He has a normal...
by Richard Hoang | Sep 24, 2020 | Critical Care, Featured, Grand Round Summaries, Trauma
In this post, we’ll discuss viscoelastic hemostatic assays (VHAs), namely ROTEM (Rotational Thromboelastometry), and how we can use this tool to enhance the care of traumatically injured patients. This is the first in a two-part series. This part reviews the Evidence...
by Michael Wong, Alex Coutin | Aug 20, 2020 | Addictions, Critical Care, Featured, mental health, psychiatry
In part 1 of this 2-part series, we discussed diagnosis and initial management of alcohol withdrawal. In part 2, we discuss the role of the benzodiazepines on discharge, how to use gabapentin, naltrexone, and communication strategies to optimize discharge to help your...
by Michael Wong, Alex Coutin | Aug 13, 2020 | Critical Care, Featured, psychiatry, Toxicology
In Ontario, Canada, alcohol-related ED visits have increased 4.4x faster than the overall increase in visits from 2003-2016, and was responsible for more admissions than heart attacks in 2016. In part 1 of this 2-part series, we will discuss tips for the diagnosis and...
by Hans Rosenberg | Jul 6, 2020 | cardiac arrest, Critical Care, Journal Club, Radiology, Resuscitation, Ultrasound
Methodology: 2.5/5 Usefulness: 3/5 Daley JI, et al. Acad Emerg Med 26 (11), 1211-1220 Nov 2019 Questions and methods: In patients with abnormal vital signs, what is the sensitivity of FOCUS for the diagnosis of PE? Prospective, multicenter, observational...
by Lindsay Cheskes, Kate O'Connell | May 21, 2020 | cardiac arrest, Cardiology, Critical Care, Featured, Grand Round Summaries, Resuscitation
This post takes a deep dive into the pathophysiology, presentation and management of electrical storm in the emergency department. The management focuses on patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators receiving multiple shocks, patients with polymorphic...
by Garrick Mok, Pascale King | May 7, 2020 | Critical Care, Featured, Grand Round Summaries, Infectious Disease, Resuscitation
The Surviving Sepsis Guidelines define sepsis as a “life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to an infection”. Septic shock is further defined as sepsis with hypotension (MAP ≤65) and/or lactate ≥2.0 despite adequate fluid...
by Jessica McCallum, Kate O'Connell | Apr 9, 2020 | Critical Care, Featured, Pre-Hospital
In this post, we aim to highlight the perspectives of family, physicians, the emergency department and pre-hospital medicine in regards to organ donation. Types of Organ Tissue Donation There are 2 main types of deceased organ donation including neurologic...