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 [...]

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Vasopressin Use in the Resuscitation of Cardiac Arrest Patients

04 Aug

Posted by SCCM as Concise Critical Appraisal

Vasopressin is recommended for cardiac arrest according to current American Heart Association guidelines. In a pre-released article in Resuscitation, Mentzelopoulos et al performed a meta-analysis to determine whether the cumulative evidence supports or refutes outcomes benefits for vasopressin when used for adult cardiac arrest. After a limited search involving PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane registry, [...]

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Early Versus Late Parenteral Nutrition in Critically Ill Adults

20 Jul

Posted by SCCM as Concise Critical Appraisal

In an online article of The New England Journal of Medicine, Casaer et al present data from a prospective, randomized, controlled, parallel-group, multicenter trial conducted in Belgium. The Early Parenteral Nutrition Completing Enteral Nutrition in Adult Critically Ill Patients (EPaNIC) investigators sought to assess outcomes between patients treated with parenteral nutrition (PN) within 2 days [...]