Reviewed and revised 8 January 2016 OVERVIEW The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) is a joint collaboration of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine that seeks to reduce mortality from severe sepsis and septic shock…
Trauma Literature Summaries: Tranexamic acid (TXA) for traumatic haemorrhage; Steroids for acute spinal injury
Pyloric Stenosis is a medial emergency that requires urgent fluid resuscitation and resolution of biochemical abnormalities. Definitive surgical treatment can then be undertaken to restore enteral nutrition.
There is concern that sedatives and anaesthetic agents may have harmful effects on the developing brain
The Septic Child
Description History 1929 – First recorded 1963 – Reye, Morgan and Baral published in Lancet 1964 – George Johnson published after Influenza B outbreak 1979 – Starko et al statistically-significant link between aspirin use and Reye syndrome 1980 – CDC…
Antibiotic guidelines vary between ICUs. This variation is based on local causes of infections, resistance patterns, availability and patient factors. However, the principles of appropriate use of antibiotics are universal... as are the common errors!
Pulseless electrical activity (PEA) occurs when organised or semi-organised electrical activity of the heart persists but the product of systemic vascular resistance and the increase in systemic arterial flow generated by the ejection of the left ventricular stroke volume is not sufficient to produce a clinically detectable pulse
Resuscitation Literature Summaries
Assessment of thoracic trauma requires the identification of immediately life-threatening injuries on primary survey, and delayed life threats on secondary survey.
Finger Thoracostomy: Any pneumothorax in a patient undergoing positive pressure ventilation; Actual or near traumatic cardiac arrest; Shocked state with no apparent cause; Pleural drainage is not indicated in drowning or hangings unless pneumothorax is diagnosed. Remember pleural decompression will reduce the efficiency of the ACD and impedance valve
The most important extremity injuries are those that are either life-threatening or limb-threatening in nature such as Pelvic disruption with massive hemorrhage; Severe arterial hemorrhage; and Crush syndrome