Intra-Aortic Balloon Support for Cardiogenic Shock

17 Oct

Posted by SCCM as Concise Critical Appraisal

Despite relative scarce evidence to support their use, intra-aortic balloon pumps (IABPs) have received high-grade recommendations in both U.S. and European guidelines for use in the management of cardiogenic shock. In the October issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, Holger Thiele, MD, and the IABP-SHOCK II trial investigators conducted a controlled study to [...]

3 Comments

Antibiotics in Septic Shock: Is Time Really of the Essence?

01 Sep

Posted by SCCM as Concise Critical Appraisal

The Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines recommend initiating broad-spectrum antibiotics within one hour to treat severe sepsis or septic shock. In September’s Critical Care Medicine, Puskarich et al studied the association between time to initial antibiotic administration and in-hospital mortality rates for septic patients treated with the quantitative resuscitation protocol. The study design was a preplanned [...]