R&R in the FASTLANE 001

Welcome to the 1st edition of Research and Reviews in the Fastlane. R&R in the Fastlane is a free resource that harnesses the power of social media to allow some of the best and brightest emergency medicine and critical care clinicians from all over the world tell us what they think is worth reading from the published literature.

This edition contains 21 recommended reads. The R&R Editorial Team includes Jeremy Fried, Nudrat Rashid, Soren Rudolph, Anand Swaminathan and, of course, Chris Nickson. Find more R&R in the Fastlane reviews in the : Overview; Archives and Contributors

This Edition’s R&R Hall of Famer

Weingart SD, Levitan RM. Preoxygenation and Prevention of Desaturation During Emergency Airway Management. Ann Emerg Med. 2011 Nov 1. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 22050948.

• Weingart & Levitan describe several crucial techniques that should be used during every ED intubation attempt but often aren’t (e.g. apneic oxygenation using nasal cannula, elevation of head of bed) and a few advanced techniques, such as using PEEP in the preoxygenation and apneic phase.
• Recommended by RJS, CPN, LG
• Learn more: EMCrit – Preoxygenation, reoxygenation and deoxygenation;  Resus.ME – Preoxygenation and prevention of desaturation

Hauswald M. Percutaneous transtracheal jet ventilation. Acad Emerg Med. 2011 Oct;18(10):1109. doi: 10.1111/j.1553-2712.2011.01180.x. Epub 2011 Sep 26. PMID: 21951972.

• Interesting description of needle cricothyroidotomy and jet ventilation with intermittent closure of mouth and nose!
• Recommended by: MLC

Kofke WA, Horak J, Stiefel M, Pascual J. Viable oxygenation with cannula-over-needle cricothyrotomy for asphyxial airway occlusion. Br J Anaesth. 2011 Oct;107(4):642-3. PMID: 21903652

• A supportive case for needle cricothyroidotomy in an anaesthetic crisis
• Recommended by: MLC

Naff N, Williams MA, Keyl PM, Tuhrim S, Bullock MR, Mayer SA, Coplin W, Narayan R, Haines S, Cruz-Flores S, Zuccarello M, Brock D, Awad I, Ziai WC, Marmarou A, Rhoney D, McBee N, Lane K, Hanley DF Jr. Low-dose recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator enhances clot resolution in brain hemorrhage: the intraventricular hemorrhage thrombolysis trial. Stroke. 2011 Nov;42(11):3009-16. Epub 2011 Aug 25. PMID: 21868730

• Another step forward in new treatments for intracerebral haemorrhage.
• Recommended by: OJF
• Learn more: EM Literature of Note – The cure for bleeding is more bleeding?

Ng R, Yeghiazarians Y. Post Myocardial Infarction Cardiogenic Shock: A Review of Current Therapies. J Intensive Care Med. 2011 Jul 11. [Epub ahead of print]  PMID: 21747126

• A decent review of treatment options for cardiogenic shock post MI.
• Recommended by: OJF

Shayne P, Coates WC, Farrell SE, Kuhn DO GJ, Lin M, Maggio LA, Fisher J. Critical Appraisal of Emergency Medicine Educational Research: The Best Publications of 2010. Acad Emerg Med. 2011 Oct;18(10):1081-1089.  PMID: 21996074

• This is the third edition of an annual series that I started in Academic EM which highlights the highest ranked, methodologically-sound educational research studies in EM for 2010.
• Recommended by: ML

Blaivas M, Adhikari S, Lander L. A prospective comparison of procedural sedation and ultrasound-guided interscalene nerve block for shoulder reduction in the emergency department. Acad Emerg Med. 2011 Sep;18(9):922-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1553-2712.2011.01140.x. Epub 2011 Aug 30. PMID: 21883635.

• Trial of scalene block v sedation for dislocated shoulder. By experienced guys but the LOS was a lot less in the scalene block group.
• Recommended by: AJN
• Learn more: Emergency Medicine Ireland – US Scalene Block for Shoulder Reduction

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infectious disease. Antiviral agents for the treatment and chemoprophylaxis of influenza. Ann Emerg Med. 2011 Sep;58(3):299-303; discussion 303-4. PMID: 21871233

• Aaa-choo! Influenza season is coming (in the northern hemisphere!). The IDSA 2011 guidelines on antiviral agents and treatment indications for the 2011-12 season.
• Recommended by: ML
• Learn more: Paucis Verbis – Influenza – to treat or not to treat?

Grady D, Berkowitz SA. Why is a good clinical prediction rule so hard to find? Arch Intern Med. 2011 Oct 24;171(19):1701-2. PMID: 22025427.

• Clinical prediction rules must be easy to incorporate, generalizable, reproducible, and lead to improved clinical outcomes.
• Recommended by: LG

Herring AA, Stone MB, Nagdev A. Ultrasound-guided suprascapular nerve block for shoulder reduction and adhesive capsulitis in the ED. Am J Emerg Med. 2011 Oct;29(8):963.e1-3. Epub 2010 Dec 15. PMID: 21109384

• Only a case report but yet another lovely way to anaesthetise the shoulder joint; nice description of the technique too.
• Recommended by: AJN

Lucassen W, Geersing GJ, Erkens PM, Reitsma JB, Moons KG, Büller H, van Weert HC. Clinical decision rules for excluding pulmonary embolism: a meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2011 Oct 4;155(7):448-60. PMID: 21969343.

• An overview of Clinical Decision Rules combined with D-dimer results in the evaluation of pulmonary embolism
• Recommended by: MJ

Tarnutzer AA, Berkowitz AL, Robinson KA, Hsieh YH, Newman-Toker DE. Does my dizzy patient have a stroke? A systematic review of bedside diagnosis in acute vestibular syndrome. CMAJ. 2011 Jun 14;183(9):E571-92. Epub 2011 May 16. PMID: 21576300

• The best review of all the data of distinguishing benign vertigo from acute posterior stroke.
• Recommended by: SDW
• Learn more: EMCrit – Diagnosis of Posterior Stroke

Neunert C, Lim W, Crowther M, Cohen A, Solberg L Jr, Crowther MA; American Society of Hematology. The American Society of Hematology 2011 evidence-based practice guideline for immune thrombocytopenia. Blood. 2011 Apr 21;117(16):4190-207. Epub 2011 Feb 16. Review.  PMID: 21325604.

• Excellent update on the current approach to ITP in children and adults.  Always important to know how our consultants approach the issues we are dealing with.
• Recommended by: SMF

Paquette K, Cheng MP, McGillivray D, Lam C, Quach C. Is a lumbar puncture necessary when evaluating febrile infants (30 to 90 days of age) with an abnormal urinalysis? Pediatr Emerg Care. 2011 Nov;27(11):1057-61. PMID: 22068068

• Here’s one that will likely gain more support in the future. I still think the un-immunized child with an abnormal U/A is too risky, but perhaps the 9 week old who has had the first set of vaccinations can be saved from the LP when there is an abnormal U/A.
• Recommended by: SMF
• Learn more: Journal Watch