Earlier Lumbar Puncture for Suspected Acute Bacterial Meningitis Leads to Better Outcomes

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Lumbar Puncture, medical procedures, Neurological diseases
More Tags – bacterial meningitis, HPC updates, lumbar puncture, meningitis
Although adult bacterial meningitis (ABM) is rare, the outcomes can be devastating. An area of controversy concerns when to perform lumbar puncture (LP). Because of the possibility of brain herniation, it has been recommended that cerebral computed tomography (CT) be…
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Steroids in COPD Exacerbation – No Role for High-Dose Steroids

Ben Scheribel
More Articles – Mechanical Ventilation, medical procedures, Respiratory diseases
More Tags – COPD, COPD exacerbations, HPC updates, respiratory failure
Researchers evaluated 17,239 patients (77% older than 60; 31% tobacco users) with COPD exacerbations who were admitted to ICUs at 473 U.S. hospitals. Nearly one third of patients received noninvasive ventilation; 15% were intubated. Almost all patients received antibiotics and…
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Antibiotic duration for intra-abdominal infections

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Emergency Procedures, Infections, medical procedures
More Tags – HPC updates, intra-abdominal infections, sepsis
In an open-label trial involving adults with complicated intra-abdominal infections at 23 centers in the U.S. and Canada, researchers have investigated whether fixed-duration antimicrobial therapy (4 days) after source control is as effective as the traditional strategy (antibiotic administration until 2 days…
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Lung ultrasound for diagnosis of pneumonia

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Emergency Procedures, Infections, medical procedures, Respiratory diseases
More Tags – HPC updates, lung ultrasound, pneumonia, sepsis
Lung ultrasound can detect pneumothorax and pulmonary edema, but limited data exist to quantify its accuracy for diagnosing pneumonia. In a prospective study, investigators compared lung ultrasound to chest computed tomography (CT) and chest x-ray among adult patients presenting with…
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Hospital-acquired Conditions are Higher with Weekend Admissions

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Endocrinology, Hospital Procedures
More Tags – Catheter-associated UTI, falls, hospital-acquired conditions, HPC updates, pressure ulcers
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regards serious preventable hospital-acquired conditions as “never events.” In this study, investigators used a nationwide U.S. hospital database to compare risks for 11 serious hospital-acquired conditions after weekend or weekday admissions. The…
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