What Drip to Use After the Drop - Post-Cardiac Arrest Hypotension

What Drip to Use After the Drop - Post-Cardiac Arrest Hypotension

During a cardiac arrest resuscitation, finally palpating a pulsatile flow beneath your gloved fingertips brings a sense of satisfaction like no other. But just as you go to finally breathe a sigh of relief and wipe the beading sweat off your brow, your now widening pupils focus on the patient’s steadily plummeting blood pressure. As you begin to sense your own heart palpitating, you think about medications to utilize in hopes of staving off another round of chest compressions. Since you’ve already given four doses of code-dose epinephrine, maybe an epinephrine infusion is best? You also recall that norepinephrine seems to be a popular choice in patients with shock, so maybe you should start that instead?

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Dental Infections: To Treat or Not to Treat?

Dental Infections: To Treat or Not to Treat?

Remember as a kid when you would come downstairs only to find your parent devouring your hard-earned Halloween candy? Consider it a favor. Though delicious, those globs of sticky sugar are a common culprit of toothaches for kids & adults alike, as well as headaches for emergency room providers. Whether in the emergency department itself, or while being cornered by a neighbor as you head out your front door, we are commonly confronted by someone holding the side of their face in agony, slowly mumbling ‘can you help me doc?’, as they wince in pain in between each word. Though our medical curriculum may not have prepared us for these moments, medicine is all about lifelong learning, so it is up to us to fill the knowledge gaps about those 32 pearly whites that are often the cause of much trouble.

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