Background: Current trauma resuscitation prioritizes control of bleeding and uses massive transfusion protocols to prevent and treat coagulopathy. This is typically done in the form of massive transfusion protocols delivered in proportions that approach the composition of whole blood. Two strategies to help guide this replacement of blood products are conventional coagulation tests and viscoelastic ... Read more

Back in April 2020, on REBEL Cast episode 79 we sat down to discuss COVID-19.  Specifically, we focused on not intubating patients early and why ARDSnet may not be the best ventilator paradigm for patients with COVID-19.  By popular demand, we decided to follow up on this podcast.  We are now just about 9 months ... Read more

Background: Intravenous alteplase is the current standard care for treatment of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) despite active debate on the research supporting its use.  The window for its use has been restricted to <3h of symptom onset based on the results of the NINDS trial and extended to a time window of <4.5h based on ... Read more

Take Home Points This is a resuscitative hysterotomy – focus is on saving the mother first. Delivering the fetus can improve venous return thus increasing chance to save mom Don’t focus on gestational age to make the decision – if you think the belly is big enough to be causing compression of vascular structures, the ... Read more

Take Home Points Be sure to consider mesenteric ischemia in any elderly patient with abdominal pain or lower gastrointestinal (GI) complaints.  Remember, the presentation can be tricky to find and they may have a reassuring abdominal exam. Ask about artherosclerotic risk factors, history of cardiovascular disease including atrial fibrillation and prior embolic events, and a ... Read more

Background Information: Central venous catheterization is a common procedure performed in the ICU for the purposes of drug administration and resuscitation. The subclavian vein is the more preferred access site given its fixed puncture location, ease for nursing access and low incidence of infections.1 Landmark guided catheterization has a widely variable success rate and has been ... Read more

Background Information: Ultrasound guided peripheral and central venous access has become more common while simultaneously decreasing complications and increasing first pass success. Landmark guided palpation has historically been considered the standard of care when placing arterial lines, however the use of ultrasound is challenging that notion as anatomic landmarks are not helpful in 30% of ... Read more

Background: The well-established, standard treatment for acute appendicitis is surgical appendectomy.  However, recent research has challenged the dominance of the surgical approach in looking at antibiotics alone. The available literature on non-operative treatment of appendicitis (NOTA) has important limitations: exclusion of patients with appendicoliths, small sample size and predominance of open appendectomy over laparoscopic appendectomy. ... Read more

Take Home Points Watch for continued bleeding in excess of 500 ml or bleeding that is “more than normal.” Call it postpartum hemorrhage and start resuscitation Call your obstetric and/or surgical consultants early as operative intervention is often required Replace intravascular volume with blood products Uterine atony is the most common cause of postpartum hemorrhage. ... Read more

Background: ICU discharge is often delayed due to intravenous vasopressor requirements to maintain clinically indicated blood pressure goals. In some patients without impairment of tissue oxygenation, the use of oral agents could facilitate weaning from IV vasopressors and lead to earlier ICU discharge. Midodrine is an oral alpha1 adrenergic agonist that may facilitate liberation from ... Read more