Some topics just get people excited. The drugs we use during intubation – well, people are going to have an opinion. Etomidate was popular while I trained, but was actually hard to find in the emergency department. Then came worries of adrenal suppression. Was etomidate just changing biochemical outcomes, or […]
ebm reviews EM literature (critical appraisals)
228 posts
You are at a conference. You had 1 glass of wine too many last night, so you had to add an extra coffee to get moving this morning. Then you feel a slight flutter in your chest. Caffeine is a stimulant, right? Could it be causing atrial fibrillation? The paper […]
As far as I can tell, despite talking about the paper widely at conferences, I never included a write up of the original ANDROMEDA-SHOCK trial on First10EM. (Hernández 2019) (There is a massive file of all the topics I want to cover, and would cover if this was a job […]
It has been a while since I have critically appraised. Life without medical journals is sort of nice, but I guess it just isn’t me, so I am back and nerdier than ever. That means there are some strange selections this time around, but there are bound to be at […]
Might elderly patients, with a higher risk of undiagnosed hypertension and higher rates of vascular disease, require higher blood pressure targets in sepsis? Or might this just be yet another example of medicine doing harm in the quest of better numbers on a monitor?
I took a few months off. (Well, not so much off, but as stuck in other EBM rabbit holes.) I am sure some were happy for the empty inbox, but if you enjoy nerdy conversation about subpar medical research, this is your luck day.
I have covered calcium channel blockers for atrial fibrillation a number of times. If you are pursuing a rate control approach, calcium channel blockers probably result in more rapid control. Thus, if you are trying to send these patients home, they might be a good choice. However, for long term […]
The decision between mechanical thrombectomy and catheter directed thrombolysis for pulmonary embolism is not one that most emergency physicians are making. Most (like me) probably don’t even have access to such therapies, which might be a good thing, as both therapies remain completely unproven. However, I thought I would share […]