Hospital Medicine Alert – August 1, 2012
August 1, 2012
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Hand Hygiene Exemplars: Lead the Followers
Hand hygiene was more likely to be performed when the first person entering the room or the attending physician (regardless of order) performed hand hygiene. -
High-Flow Nasal Cannula Oxygen Therapy in Acute Respiratory Failure: What Do We Know?
Limited data on the use of high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy suggests it is associated with improvement in physiologic parameters. -
Medical Emergency Team Calls in the Radiology Department
This study of potentially life-threatening changes in patient condition during trips to the radiology department of a large academic medical center found that such events occurred about once a week, involved both ward and ICU patients who had comorbidities and high overall mortality, and were often unanticipated by vital sign changes or other recognized warnings. -
Nighttime Intensivist Coverage May Not Benefit All ICUs
This retrospective, multicenter study found that nighttime intensivist staffing is associated with lower patient mortality only in ICUs that lack mandatory daytime intensivist staffing. -
Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death with Azithromycin
In this paper, the authors performed a pharmacoepidemiologic study on the relationship between azithromycin, a frequently used broad-spectrum macrolide antibiotic, and cardiovascular death. The authors analyzed data from the Tennessee Medicaid program. -
ECG Review: Adenosine for a Wide Tachycardia?
Scenario: The 12-lead ECG shown above was obtained from a previously healthy 30-year-old man who presented to the emergency department with new-onset palpitations. No prior ECG was available for comparison. The patient was alert and hemodynamically stable at the time this tracing was recorded. What is the rhythm? Is this rhythm likely to respond to adenosine? -
Clinical Briefs in Primary Care Supplement
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Pharmacology Watch: FDA Approves First New Anti-Obesity Drug in Years
Lorcaserin for weight loss; statins and fatigue; treatment-resistant gonorrhea; hydrocodone classification changes; USPSTF recommendations; and FDA actions.