Tips for Management and Bedside Procedures in Critically Ill Patients with COVID Pneumonia

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Arterial line, Cardiovascular diseases, Central line, Emergency Procedures, Endotracheal Intubation, Featured, Gastrointestinal diseases, Glidescope Intubation, Mechanical Ventilation, Medical General, medical procedures, Procedural Sedation, Respiratory diseases
More Tags – Arterial line insertion, asystole, cardiac arrest, Central line insertion, COVID pneumonia, CPR, featured, Glidescope intubation, HPC updates, intubation, mechanical ventilation, PEA, push dose pressors, video laryngoscopy
The SARS-COV-2 pandemic started in January 2020 and has decimated the majority of U.S. hospitals for the past 18 months. The impact of COVID-19 has not only affected available hospital beds, but has limited the ability of hospitals to perform…
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Airway Management in COVID-positive Patients

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Arterial line, Central line, Chest Tube, Endotracheal Intubation, Featured Procedure, Glidescope Intubation, King Tube, Laryngeal Mask Airway, Mechanical Ventilation, medical procedures, Respiratory diseases
More Tags – airway management, COVID, featured procedure, HPC updates, intubation
A number of additional factors must be considered with airway management in COVID-positive patients. Hospital Procedures Consultants (HPC) can provide simulation-based training to prepare providers for airway management in COVID-positive patients. The first essential consideration is to place the patient into a…
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Informed Consent and Ethical Challenges During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Featured, Hospital Procedures, Medical General, medical procedures, Respiratory diseases
More Tags – COVID, CPR, featured, HPC updates, Informed consent
Informed consent can be challenging during “normal” times, but it has become increasingly complicated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The informed consent process ensures that a patient or their surrogate decision-maker understands the benefits, potential risks and any alternatives of a…
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Safety of Thoracentesis and Tube Thoracostomy in Patients with Uncorrected Coagulopathies

Tube Thoracostomy Insertion Procedure
Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Cardiovascular diseases, Central line, Chest Tube, Endotracheal Intubation, Featured, Hematology, medical procedures, Thoracentesis
More Tags – anticoagulation, antiplatelets, chest tube placement, coagulopathy, featured, HPC updates, thoracentesis, tube thoracostomy
Traditionally, it was felt that the INR had to be less than 1.5 and platelets had to be at least 50,000/µL to perform most bedside procedures. With more clinical evidence, we now know that low-risk bedside procedures can be performed…
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Thoracentesis-Associated Pneumothorax is Rare when Performed by Procedural Experts Using Ultrasound Guidance

Thoracentesis Course
Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Cardiovascular diseases, Featured Procedure, medical procedures, Respiratory diseases, Thoracentesis
More Tags – featured procedure, HPC updates, pneumothorax, thoracentesis, Ultrasound-guided thoracentesis
Original studies of ultrasound-guided thoracentesis concluded a 2% risk of pneumothorax. A recent single center study of 9320 thoracenteses over 12 years all by procedural experts had pneumothorax rate of 0.6%. This same study also demonstrated a very low incidence…
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Pediatric Procedural Sedation is Safe for Emergency Department Procedures without Fasting

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Emergency Procedures, Featured, Procedural Sedation
More Tags – conscious sedation, featured, HPC updates, procedural sedation, Sedation
The American College of Physicians (ACEP) has previously published guidelines in October 2013 about Procedural Sedation and Analgesia. In these guidelines, they provided Level B recommendations that state, “Do not delay procedural sedation in adults or pediatrics in the ED…
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Continuous Capnometry Should be Standard Practice for Moderate-Deep Procedural Sedation

Hospital Procedure Consultants
More Articles – Emergency Procedures, Featured Procedure, Procedural Sedation
More Tags – Capnometry, conscious sedation, featured procedure, HPC updates, procedural sedation, Sedation
Continuous Capnometry Should be Standard Practice for Moderate-Deep Procedural Sedation Continuous capnometry has been consistently proven to identify patients undergoing moderate-deep procedural sedation who have impaired ventilation well before hypoxia develops.  There have been at least 8 studies that have…
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How to Place a Chest Tube in a Safe and Humane Fashion

Hospital Procedure Consultants
More Articles – Cardiovascular diseases, Chest Tube, Featured Procedure, King Tube, medical procedures, Procedural Sedation
More Tags – chest tube, featured procedure, HPC updates, procedural sedation, tube thoracostomy
Chest tube placement, or tube thoracostomy, can be an anxiety-provoking procedure for both the patient AND the operator.  It can also be a very gratifying procedure for the operator when performed successfully and without patient discomfort. Here are a few…
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Management of Pleural Infections

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Cardiovascular diseases, Central line, Chest Tube, Featured, Infections, King Tube, medical procedures, Respiratory diseases, Thoracentesis
More Tags – chest tube, empyema, featured, HPC updates, parapneumonic effusion, pleural effusion, thoracentesis, tube thoracostomy
Complicated parapneumonic effusions frequently represent pleural space infections. Approximately 1 in 7 cases of pneumonia have an associated parapneumonic effusion (PPE) on chest x-ray. Most of these effusions are small and usually resolve spontaneously with prompt antibiotic administration. However, moderate-to-large…
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Summary of Difficult Airway Management in COVID-19 Patients

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Emergency Procedures, Endotracheal Intubation, Featured, Glidescope Intubation, King Tube, Laryngeal Mask Airway, Mechanical Ventilation
More Tags – awake intubation, COVID-19, difficult airway management, Difficult Intubation, endotracheal intubation, featured, HPC updates, intubation, video laryngoscopy
The Society of Airway Management recently issued guidelines for Difficult Airway Management in COVID-19 patients.  The SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus is extremely contagious via respiratory droplets and therefore extra precautions are needed for airway management in severe COVID-19 infection.  Airway…
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Video laryngoscopy has a superior first pass success rate compared with direct laryngoscopy in the ICU

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Emergency Procedures, Endotracheal Intubation, Featured Procedure, Gastrointestinal diseases, Glidescope Intubation, medical procedures, Respiratory diseases
More Tags – airway management, direct laryngoscopy, endotracheal intubation, Glidescope intubation, HPC updates, intubation, video laryngoscopy
Video laryngoscopy is superior to direct laryngoscopy for emergency intubations in the ICU. A recent meta-analysis based on nine trials evaluated 2,133 ICU patients and concluded that video laryngoscopy (VL) has a higher first pass success rate compared to direct…
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Incidence of Spinal Hematoma from Lumbar Punctures in Patients with a Coagulopathy or Thrombocytopenia

Lumbar Puncture CME
Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Featured, Hematology, Lumbar Puncture, medical procedures
More Tags – coagulopathy, epidural hematoma, featured, HPC updates, lumbar puncture, thrombocytopenia
A recent cohort study using the Danish nationwide medical registry demonstrates that the incidence of a spinal or epidural hematoma from lumbar punctures in patients with pre-existing thrombocytopenia (Platelets<150 K) or coagulopathy (INR>1.4 or aPTT>39 seconds) is not significantly higher…
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Intraosseous Lines Placed Using the EZ-IO Device Can Be Safely Maintained for Up to 48 hours

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Cardiovascular diseases, Emergency Procedures, Featured Procedure, Intraosseous line, medical procedures
More Tags – EZ-IO, featured procedure, HPC updates, intraosseous drill, intraosseous line, io line, Vascular access
Intraosseous vascular access using the EZ-IO device is a wonderful option for emergency access in the hospital or pre-hospital setting. Intraosseous lines are easy to place with proper training and can serve as emergency vascular access during cardiac arrest or…
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Intraosseous Lines: Expanding Indications

Dr. Rick Rutherford, M.D., FAAFP
More Articles – Cardiovascular diseases, Central line, Emergency Procedures, Featured, Intraosseous line, medical procedures
More Tags – EZ-IO, featured, HPC updates, intraosseous drill, intraosseous line, io line, Vascular access
Intraosseous line use has increased significantly since the advent of the battery powered intraosseous drill.  In surveying providers at courses over the years, we have seen a steady rise in the number of providers with access to the intraosseous drill. …
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Risk of Epidural Hematoma from Lumbar Puncture in Patients with a Coagulopathy

Joseph Esherick, M.D., FAAFP, FHM
More Articles – Featured, Hematology, Lumbar Puncture, medical procedures
More Tags – coagulopathy, epidural hematoma, featured, HPC updates, lumbar puncture, thrombocytopenia
Class 1 evidence to inform decisions about the safety of lumbar punctures in patients with a coagulopathy are lacking. The only guidance we have regarding the safety of lumbar punctures is based on clinical guidance from organizations such as the…
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