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Anticoagulation in the Trauma Patient

The number and variety of anticoagulants have expanded greatly during the past decade. Because of the large number of individuals on anticoagulation for various conditions, anticoagulated patients assuredly will present as trauma patients.

Reach out to the Addicted Before Outbreaks

Focused on their high calling to protect patients from cross-transmission and full-blown outbreaks, infection preventionists may find it difficult to muster compassion for those who willfully endanger their frail charges by stealing the very medicine needed to comfort them.

Cures Act includes antibiotic provisions for CDC, FDA

Infectious disease groups have successfully lobbied Congress to pass legislation that would fast track development of new antibiotics, improve tracking of drug resistant bacteria and support the national push for antibiotic stewardship.

Universal Masking Protects Stem Cell Patients

A universal masking policy for health care providers and home care workers dramatically reduced respiratory viral infections in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients, researchers report.¹

CDC Studies Hospital Acquired Influenza

In the historical debate about whether healthcare workers should be required to have seasonal influenza shots, sometimes the issue of whether and how much flu is actually transmitted by caregivers has been viewed with some skepticism.

Clinicians Warn of Deadly Measles Complication

While undermining herd immunity in their communities, parents who decline measles vaccine for their children may be putting them and other kids at risk of a serious complication that is more common than once thought, researchers reported recently in New Orleans at IDWeek 2016.

IDWeek 2016: Connections Drive Infections, as Bugs Move with Pts

Pathogens and patients move together across an interconnected healthcare continuum, meaning no matter how high a level of infection prevention is achieved in one hospital it is still at the mercy of a wide variety of transferring facilities, said Tom Frieden, MD, director of the CDC.

High-flow Nasal Cannula vs. Noninvasive Ventilation in Postextubation Failure

SYNOPSIS: In this multicenter, randomized, clinical trial of critically ill adults at high risk for reintubation, high-flow conditioned oxygen therapy was not inferior to noninvasive mechanical ventilation with regard to preventing reintubation and postextubation respiratory failure within 72 hours of extubation.

Diastolic Blood Pressure Goals

SYNOPSIS: An analysis of the community-based ARIC study showed that low diastolic blood pressures were associated with higher baseline and subsequent troponin T levels and adverse cardiac events, but not stroke.

Pulmonary Embolism Common Cause for Syncope in Hospitalized Patients

Syncope is a chief complaint for which neurologists often are consulted. In most cases, the neurological concern is possible stroke or an epileptic seizure. However, a variety of cardiopulmonary problems are most often the underlying cause of syncope, including cardiac arrhythmias and pulmonary embolism. The investigators of this study reviewed the clinical records of 560 patients (mean age of 76 years) who were admitted to the hospital with syncope.