My Virtual Reading Room

“Hypothermia for Intracranial Hypertension After Traumatic Brain Injury,” published online Oct. 7 in The New England Journal of Medicine, concludes that in patients with an intracranial pressure of more than 20 mm Hg after traumatic brain injury (TBI), adding therapeutic hypothermia to standard care does not improve outcomes.
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(I am not surprised...)
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Placing Large Catheter in Vein Under Collarbone Best, Study Finds

(HealthDay News) -- For patients in intensive care units who need a catheter so they can receive medications easily, one placed in the vein under the collarbone appears to lower the risk of bloodstream infections and clots, a new study finds.

The researchers reported that it lowered those risks by two to three times when compared to catheters placed in the large vein in the groin or in the jugular vein in the neck.

"There has been an ongoing controversy about where to place these large catheters that would have the least risk of life-threatening infections," said senior researcher Dr. Leonard Mermel, from Lifespan in Providence, Rhode Island. Read more.
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(This is interesting...of course, subclavian catheters are more difficult to place than internal jugular ones...)
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CDC looks at incidence of allergic reactions from vaccines
Children ages 5 or younger who received vaccines accounted for 135 of 380 identified cases of allergy, anaphylaxis or possible anaphylaxis, and no anaphylaxis cases were identified among those younger than age 4, according to a CDC study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The findings, based on a records review of more than 17 million visits and 25 million vaccines given between 2009 and 2011, showed only 1.3 people in every million who received a vaccine had anaphylaxis, and none died. HealthDay News (10/15)
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(Of course)
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Short ICU trials may be enough for some cancer patients

(Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

A study in JAMA Oncology looked at the effect on mortality of shorter periods in the ICU for critically ill cancer patients with a poor prognoses. Researchers said ICU stays of one to four days may be enough for patients with solid tumors, while those with less severe illness may benefit from stays of 10 to 12 days. For patients who were the sickest, ICU trial periods of eight days were associated with mean survival times no more than one day different than time-unlimited intensive care. DoctorsLounge.com/HealthDay News (10/16)

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(Absolutely)