We are on a pancreas journey! In this episode, we talk about the MANY etiologies of pancreatitis, the diagnostic workup, scoring systems (and a little dismantling of the Ranson Criteria throne), and the management of pancreatitis. Next week, we'll be talking about some specific pancreatitis complications before we move on to neoplasms in the pancreas. Hope you enjoy!

Not the ERAS tour you wanted but the ERAS tour you deserved. In this week's episode, we're talking about the process of applying to residency (specifically general surgery residency, but a lot of what we talk about generally applies to most application processes) and how you can start getting organized at different stages of your training. In summary, don't panic, this is doable and you know most of the answers already :)

I hope you find this helpful -- be sure to ask questions you still have on our instagram (@sterilefieldguide)

Hey friends! In episode 21, we go over acute respiratory distress syndrome diagnostic criteria, risk factors, and management. A big part of ARDS management is appropriate ventilation. Ventilation strategies for ARDS have been called "lung protective ventilation" or "low tidal volume ventilation" (LTVV) and have intricacies that are helpful to be aware of. Some of these intricacies include tidal volume calculations, PEEP requirements, and the possibility of proning. We talk a lot about proning and the data behind prone ventilation, the contraindications to proning, and how to keep your patients safe while doing prone ventilation. Hope you learn something new in this episode!

Hey friends! In this episode, we take some time to talk about the basics of oxygenation and ventilation and how ventilators work. Specifically, we will cover volume control, pressure control, PRVC, pressure support, and assist control and SIMV adjuncts. After learning about the basics of ventilator settings, we dive into plans that you as a medical student might start to suggest. "Wean to extubate" and "wean vent settings" are commonly thrown around but what does this mean? We cover "minimals" or minimal ventilator settings, spontaneous awakening trials (and the data supporting them!), and spontaneous breathing trials. Hope you learn something new! Be sure to check out the instagram for more information (@sterilefieldguide).

Continuing on with our critical care series, in this episode, we are talking about types of shock and the management of these types of shock. There are a lot of hemodynamic changes to keep track of for clinical diagnosis (as well as your boards exams), but don't worry, there will be a neat little table (as well as some other resources) available on the instagram (@sterilefieldguide) for your review. We will talk about cardiogenic, obstructive, hypovolemic, and distributive shock in this episode as well as review a few of the NINETY-THREE recommendations made by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (found here for your perusal: https://journals.lww.com/ccmjournal/fulltext/2021/11000/surviving_sepsis_campaign__international.21.aspx). Enjoy!

In episode 18, we start talking about vasopressors. Vasopressors (or just "pressors") are commonly encountered in the hospital and it's important to consider what you are targeting when choosing the right pressor. We discuss the proper administration of pressors, how they impact subcutaneous medications, and commonly used pressors and the receptors they work on in this episode. Enjoy!

Hey friends! This episode is a touch late since I started my LAST clinical rotation last week. In this episode, we finish up our series on solid organ injuries by talking about renal trauma. Don't worry, urology friends, there is a scoche of urological trauma talk in this episode too. We go over the AAST grading scale for traumatic kidney injuries and the approach to management for different kidney injuries, including operative (kidney salvage vs. nephrectomy), urologic (stenting, catheters, percutaneous nephrostomy tubes), interventional (embolization), and nonoperative (your favorite, serial abdominal exams!). I hope you enjoy, even if a few days late!

Hey friends! In this episode we talk all about traumatic liver injuries. Combined with the spleen, these are the two most commonly injured organs in blunt trauma. We review some important anatomy, like the portal triad and talk about the Pringle maneuver, the physical exam and imaging findings for traumatic liver injuries, and talk about the management, both operative and non-operative for liver injuries. We discuss the INR of cryo, interventional radiology procedures for liver bleeding, a REALLY interesting management strategy for hepatic artery bleeding, and surgical approaches to damaged livers. I hope you enjoy!