Core Journal Reviews

Filed Under: Tags: , , May 25th, 2017 Leave a Comment

Mechanical CPR + Outcomes in OHCA

The two most important things that we can do in cardiac arrest to improve survival and neurologically intact outcomes is high quality CPR, with limited interruptions and early defibrillation. The 2015 AHA/ACC CPR updates recommended a compression rate of 100 -120/min, a depth of 2 – 2.4in, allowing full recoil, and minimizing pauses. This is a lot to remember during a stressful code situation and one way many providers are offloading themselves cognitively is by the use of mechancical CPR (mCPR) devices. 
Read More

Filed Under: Tags: , , , , , May 18th, 2017 One Comment

Etomidate vs. Ketamine in Trauma RSI

This post is cross-posted on REBEL EM here.

Etomidate and ketamine are both routinely used as induction agents during rapid sequence intubation (RSI) in trauma patients. It is well established that etomidate transiently suppresses the adrenal gland through inhibition of the 11-beta hydroxylase enzyme. Though adrenal suppression in theory can cause deleterious outcomes,
Read More

Filed Under: Tags: , May 11th, 2017 Leave a Comment

Value of EKG Machine Interpretation

The Emergency Department, by its nature, is interruption driven given it is “uncontrolled and unpredictable and punctuated by intermittent time-critical activities (Chisholm 2000). On average, each Emergency Physician is interrupted 6.6 times per hour while at work; 11 percent of all tasks were interrupted, 3.3 percent of them more than once (Westbrook 2010). One study (Westbrook 2010) calculated that physicians were multitasking 12.8 percent of the time,
Read More

Filed Under: Tags: , , , May 4th, 2017 One Comment

Predictive Factors for Rebleeding in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

In patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage, one of the major early complications is rebleeding, with reported incidences ranging from 8% to 23% in the first 72 hours (Larsen 2010).  If repair of the ruptured aneurysm is performed successfully in a timely fashion, the chance of rebleeding can be decreased, thereby decreasing morbidity and mortality in these patients. 
Read More

Filed Under: Tags: , , , , April 27th, 2017 Leave a Comment

Age-Adjusted D-dimer (Using D-dimer Units)

Risk stratification tools like the Well’s and Geneva scores are useful for identifying patients in whom a venous thromboembolism (VTE) can be excluded with a negative D-dimer. This allows for decreased utilization of computed tomographic pulmonary angiography, V/Q scans and lower limb ultrasounds. However, the poor specificity of the D-dimer is associated with more patients getting imaged and the increased identification of sub-segmental clots of questionable significance.
Read More

Filed Under: Tags: , , April 20th, 2017 Leave a Comment

Effectiveness of Diazepam Adjunct Therapy in Acute Low Back Pain

Thanks to Salim Rezaie for the peer review. This post is cross-posted at REBEL EM.

Low back pain is an extremely common presentation to US Emergency Departments (EDs) representing 2.4% or 2.7 million visits annually. The vast majority of presentations are benign in etiology but can be time consuming and frustrating for both patients and physicians.
Read More

Filed Under: Tags: , , April 13th, 2017 Leave a Comment

Observation Units Reduce Admissions and Discharges Home

Observation units (OUs) are a hot topic in Emergency Medicine (EM) today. They are expanding their presence among hospitals, and their footprint within hospitals, every day (Feng 2013). The reason for this is multifactorial, but is almost always a response to cost and policy challenges. First, OUs present reductions in cost for hospitals, as they are cheaper than full inpatient stays and often include shorter length of stays.
Read More

Filed Under: Tags: , , , , , April 6th, 2017 Leave a Comment

Acute Kidney Injury is not Associated with IV Contrast Use in the ED

Intravenous (IV) iodinated contrast media is used routinely to improve the accuracy of computed tomography (CT) in the emergency department (ED).  Prior studies have linked contrast media with the development of acute kidney injury (AKI) and has been linked to increased risk of major adverse events including the initiation of dialysis, renal failure, stroke, myocardial infarction and death.  
Read More

NYU Langone Medical Center is one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers whose mission is to serve, teach, and discover.

About Core EM

Core EM is dedicated to bringing Emergency Providers all things core content Emergency Medicine. In the true spirit of Emergency Medicine our content is available to anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Get In Touch

Have feedback? Suggestions on how we can improve the site? Click below to contact us or find us on Social Media

Contact Us
Core EM
Copyright © 2015—2026 Core EM