Browse Emergency Articles by Topic

Insulin: A Primer

With the continued development of “smarter” pumps, the management of one of the most common chronic conditions is becoming safer and more effective.

This issue of Emergency Medicine Reports will review several changes in the recently released Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) — i.e., specifically those changes most relevant to emergency physicians. We also provide an update on some of the newest medications for depression.

An Update on Sepsis Clinical Research: Impact on ED Management

The authors review the ups and downs of several landmark sepsis studies from the past 15 years. Their findings are reaffirming and powerful.

Complications of Tubes and Lines: Part I

Emergency physicians are often required to adeptly manage patients with unique and challenging clinical problems. This is a two-part paper to provide the emergency physician with a clear, concise review of troubleshooting tubes and lines. Part I will deal with central venous catheters and tracheostomies. A later edition will deal with feeding and nephrostomy tubes.

The Lethargic Child

Stedman's medical dictionary defines lethargy as a "relatively mild impairment of consciousness resulting in reduced alertness and awareness; this condition has many causes but is ultimately due to generalized brain dysfunction."

Updates in ENT Emergencies: Tales from the Trenches

Life-threatening ear, nose, and throat (ENT) emergencies can present to any emergency department (ED) at any hour of the day or night.

Patients’ Recollections of Therapeutic Paralysis in the ICU

Ballard and colleagues conducted this qualitative study to obtain recollections of critically ill patients who were given neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) (for a minimum of 6 hours) and sedatives and/or analgesics.

Intensive Insulin Therapy in the Medical ICU

In a previous study involving patients in a surgical ICU1, Van den Berghe and associates at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, showed that tight control of serum glucose levels by means of a strict insulin infusion protocol decreased both morbidity and mortality.

Intensivist-to-Bed Ratio Impacts Length-of-Stay in the Medical ICU

This study examined the effect of variations in ICU staffing, defined in terms of intensivist-to-ICU bed ratio, on ICU length-of-stay (LOS) and ICU and hospital mortality. The study was conducted at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN over a 9-month period when the medical ICU underwent a series of planned changes which resulted in its capacity increasing from 15 to 24 beds.

Special Feature: Care Bundles in the ICU

The Institute of Medicine has documented that the hospitaland the ICU in particularis an environment in which errors are all too frequent.