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Is Old Age a Reason to Scan a Cervical Spine?
Many clinical decision rules exclude elderly patients from the derivation cohorts. So the question remains unanswered do all elderly patients need cervical spine CTs in the setting of trauma? What if they have no symptoms? This recap of a journal club article explores the incidence of significant cervical spine fractures in elderly patients.
Using Sound Waves to Help a Cric
It is well known that ultrasound has exploded in its application in both diagnostics and procedures and has ultimately revolutionized the way we practice medicine. With its growing use, more and more providers are comfortable using ultrasound for both identification of anatomy/pathology and to guide procedures that were previously only done with landmarks. While having the skills to perform landmark guided procedures is incredibly important, there is much value in being able to visually confirm anatomy to avoid procedure complications, especially when landmarks are difficult to palpate / identify in certain individuals. This recap of a recent journal club article covers a paper looking into the use of POCUS to help perform cricothyrotomy.
Avoiding Hypoxemia During Intubation
More than 1.5 million critically ill adults undergo tracheal intubation each year in the United States. Hypoxemia is a common and serious complication during tracheal intubation in critically ill adults, occurring up to 10-20% of intubations in the emergency department (ED) or intensive care unit (ICU). Hypoxemia increases the risk of cardiac arrest and death. The effect of preoxygenation with noninvasive ventilation, as compared with preoxygenation with an oxygen mask, on the incidence of hypoxemia during tracheal intubation is uncertain. In this breakdown of a Journal Club article, Dr de Castro will cover a recent paper comparing NIPPV to oxygen mask only during preoxygenation for intubation.