New Guidelines for Chest Tube Removal

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Cardiovascular diseases, Chest Tube, medical procedures
More Tags – chest tube, Chest tube removal, Guidelines, HPC updates, tube thoracostomy
A collection of recent studies has helped determine the best protocol for removing chest tubes. For instance, a trial of water seal for at least six hours is recommended before discontinuation. The water seal reduces the need for another chest…
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First Pass Success Rate is Better for Ultrasound-Guided Radial Artery Line Placement vs Palpation-Guided Placement

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Arterial line, Cardiovascular diseases, medical procedures
More Tags – Arterial Line, First-attempt success rate, HPC updates, Palpation-guided placement, Ultrasound-guided radial artery line placement
In 2015 a meta-analysis found that when an ultrasound was used during a radial arterial catheter placement the first pass success rate improved. In the eleven trials that met inclusion criteria over 800 patients were enrolled. Compared to the palpation-guided…
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New Classification of ARDS Predicts Hospital Mortality

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Mechanical Ventilation, medical procedures, Respiratory diseases
More Tags – Acute respiratory distress syndrome, ARDS, HPC updates, mechanical ventilation
Presently, the mortality of patients in the hospital with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is higher than 40%.  A sixteen month long observational study was conducted to determine if certain cutoff points of PaO2/FiO2 (less than or equal to 200…
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