Traumacast

Join Dr. Jeremy Levin and combo fellow/expert guest Dr. Sarah Cottrell-Cumber on integrating palliative care in trauma/ICU practice. They review early screening, patient-centered communication, and using time-limited trials when families request “do everything.” Finally, they touch on withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, ethical distinctions, navigating “non-beneficial” care disputes with multidisciplinary support, and keeping organ donation discussions separate from prognosis in devastating TBI. This is a unique collaborative initiative between EAST, AAST and AAST-AMC.

Content preparation: Dr. Jeremy Levin
Content reviewer: Dr. Jeremy Levin
Moderator: Dr. Jeremy Levin
Fellow Guest: Dr. Sarah Cottrell-Cumber

This episode of the Surgical Critical Care Review podcast covers the diagnosis and management of cardiogenic shock, including the use of labs, pulmonary artery catheter hemodynamics, and the Fick principle to assess perfusion deficits. Through a series of patient cases, the discussion progresses from pharmacologic support to advanced mechanical circulatory assist devices — including intra-aortic balloon pumps, Impella, ECMO, and durable LVADs — and the clinical reasoning behind choosing the right device for each patient's flow deficit.

Content preparation: Dr. Erika Bisgaard & Dr. Jennifer Brewer
Content reviewer: Dr. Lauren Craugh
Moderators: Dr. Erika Bisgaard & Dr. Jennifer Brewer
Expert Guest: Dr. Sunu Thomas
Fellow Guest: Dr. Alan Chan

In this EAST Traumacast, we explore the ins and outs of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) with Dr. Jacob Peschman from the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Peschman reviews the risk factors of HS, its pathogenesis, and emphasizes that management is nuanced and often multidisciplinary, but can lead to dramatic improvements in patient quality of life.

Dr. Jeremy Levin and Dr. Ilya Rakitin discuss post-intensive care syndrome (PICS) amd an AAST Critical Care Committee consensus review published in TSACO, emphasizing growing awareness in trauma and surgical populations. They review suggested assessments, how PICS informs goals-of-care discussions, and recommendations for PICS clinics, including timing of follow-up, multidisciplinary staffing, and challenges such as resources, reimbursement, and long-distance follow-up, while highlighting research needs and an upcoming AAST meeting session on life after the ICU. 

Supplemental Material
Anderson J, Nohra EA, Liveris A, Appelbaum R, Ratnasekera A, Peralta R, Young J, Kirsch JM, Jawa R, McLean S, Robinson B, Cuschieri J. Post-intensive Care Syndrome (PICS): an American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Critical Care Committee Consensus Guideline - Defining, Recognizing, and Managing PICS Associated Physical Impairment, Cognitive Dysfunction, and Thromboinflammatory Dysregulation. Trauma Surg Acute Care Open. 2026 Apr 3;11(2):e002172

Join moderators Dr. Milad Behbahaninia, Assistant Professor of Surgery at The University of South Florida, & Dr. Aimee LaRiccia, Assistant Professor of Surgery at Penn State Health Medical Center, as they discuss the importance of abstract creation with Dr. Christina Colosimo, Assistant Professor of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at Loma Linda University, and Dr. Ryan P. Dumas, Associate Professor of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery Baylor College of Medicine. They breakdown abstract components highlighted at the very popular Shark Tank Abstract Resuscitation Session during the 39th EAST Annual Scientific Assembly to set you up for success for the 40th EAST Annual Scientific Assembly Abstract Submission Cycle (submission deadline is July 1, 2026). 

This episode reviews the key concepts of respiratory failure, including mechanisms of hypoxemia, hypercapnic respiratory failure, and how tools like the A–a gradient help differentiate causes. The discussion then covers noninvasive ventilation strategies (HFNC, CPAP, BiPAP) and transitions into core principles of mechanical ventilation modes, settings, and advanced strategies like APRV. Finally, the episode highlights complications of mechanical ventilation and provides a conceptual approach to interpreting pressure-volume and flow-volume loops. 

Content preparation: Dr. Lauren Craugh and Dr. Andrew Drahos
Content reviewers: Dr. Lauren Craugh and Dr. Andrew Drahos
Moderators: Dr. Lauren Craugh and  Dr. Andrew Drahos
Expert Guest: Dr. Tim Ellender
Fellow Guest: Dr. AJ Sood

Join episode moderators Drs. Lauren Dudas, Jeremy Levin, Alex Brito and Aimee LaRiccia as they talk with some of the 2026 EAST Scientific Assembly Presenters, Student Doctor Luke Vaske BS, Dr. Alex Reeb, Dr. Carson Mills, Dr. Jennifer Hartwell and Student Doctor William Rice BS, about their work. This episode also features an interview with 2025 EAST past President Dr. Nicole Fox where she discusses all about her EAST journey and her year as president of the organization. 

Join Dr. Ida Molavi, Dr. Sarada Rao, Devin Gillaspie with expert guest Dr. Jose Diaz and fellow guest Dr. Victoria Liang as they cover ICU Nutrition and Endocrine Management in this Surgical Critical Care Review episode. This is a unique collaborative initiative between EAST, AAST and AAST-AMC. When do you feed the septic patient on vasopressors? When does gut ischemia change the calculus? We walk through enteral and parenteral nutrition per ASPEN/SCCM guidelines, 2024 glycemic targets, refeeding syndrome, post-TBI diabetes insipidus, and thyroid storm — including how to sequence therapy and when plasmapheresis enters the picture. 

Content preparation: Dr. Ida Molavi & Dr. Victoria Liang
Content reviewer: Dr. Ida Molavi
Moderators: Dr. Sarada Rao, Dr. Devin Gillaspie, and  Dr. Ida Molavi
Expert Guest: Dr. Jose Diaz
Fellow Guest: Dr. Victoria Liang

Host Dr. Aimee LaRiccia talks with Dr. Lisa Kodadek from Yale School of Medicine and Dr. Jennifer Freeman from Baylor in Fort Worth about the development of EAST Practice Management Guidelines (PMGs). They explore how ideas evolve into PMGs, the rigorous grading and review process, and the continuous effort to ensure quality and relevant guidelines. Listen and learn!

EAST PMGs: https://www.east.org/education-resources/practice-management-guidelines

Dr. Aimee LaRiccia interviews Experts in Trauma Research - Dr. Deborah Stein, Dr. John Cull and Dr. Michelle Price about the National Trauma research Repository (NTRR). The history of the NTRR, project funding, and how trauma surgeons can get involved and take advantage of this resource are discussed. 

References:

• The public page of the NTRR: https://ntrr.nih.gov/
• CNTR website, which includes recorded webinars, a comprehensive document on the structure and functions of the NTRR, a quick NTRR info-sheet, and our NTRR poster that was presented at the 2025 Military Health Systems Research Symposium: https://www.nattrauma.org/ntrr-landing/
• Initial CNTR blog post announcing the Department of Defense contract to develop the NTRR: https://bit.ly/NTRRDODContract