LITFL Review 271

Welcome to the 271st LITFL Review! Your regular and reliable source for the highest highlights, sneakiest sneak peeks and loudest shout-outs from the webbed world of emergency medicine and critical care. Each week the LITFL team casts the spotlight on the blogosphere’s best and brightest, and deliver a bite-sized chunk of Global FOAM.

The Most Fair Dinkum Ripper Beauts of the Week

Get your conspiracy theory on with The Poison Review team and their round up on what we know about VX gas…..[CC]

The Best of #FOAMed Emergency Medicine

• False negatives are real when it comes to non-contrast head CTs and SAH but misinterpretation is more of an issue than the imaging modality. [AS]
• Our own Anand Swaminathan argues for the use of systemic thrombolytics in submassive pulmonary embolism. [SR]
• Anna Pickens does a great 5 minute review on the approach to headaches on EM in 5. [SR]
• A painless and engaging piece from Janos of the St Emlyns crew on a recently published RCT on the use of benzos in acute low back pain. [CC]

The Best of #FOAMcc Critical Care

• Ryan Radecki reviews another publication on contrast induced nephropathy: The AMACING Trial. [SR]
• The Bottom line review a trial looking at inhaled heparin as a tool to prevent VAP. [SO]
• EM In Focus discusses the disutility of ordering pre-procedure coagulation tests in cirrhotic patients. The test is more likely to delay a necessary procedure then add guidance on management. [AS]
• Pulm CCM features a fantastic post discussing our need to normalize values and challenges the basic belief that we know better than 1000’s of years of evolution. [AS]

The Best of #FOAMres Resuscitation

• Can a pneumothorax be diagnosed purely based on the “sucking” or “blowing” sound as you breach the pleura? Dr Alan Garner suggests maybe not… [SO]

The Best of #FOAMped Pediatrics

• Andrew Tagg discuss the role of task simulators for resuscitative skills that are rarely used in PEM. Another insightful piece with thought-provoking conclusions. [CC]

The Best of #FOAMim Internal Medicine

• This week’s Louisville Lectures continues last week’s renal-inspired theme with this week’s nephritic/nephrotic syndrome. [ML]

The Best of #MedEd FOAM and #FOAMsim

• Ross Fisher continues his series on presenting data. This time, he reminds us that data slides must be easily interpretable and clear: Support the Message and not Distract. [SR]
• Arlene Chung, Haney Mallemat, & The ALiEM Team opine that life happens, but balancing life is no accident.  What are the “Big Rocks” in your life? [SR]

LITFL Weekly Review Team

Reference Sources and Reading List

• #FOAMed – #FOAMcc – #FOAMres
• #FOAMped – #FOAMtox – #FOAMus
• #FOAMim – #FOANed