March 16, 2022
A deeper look at inpatients with blindness
Hospitalists should be aware that their patients with severe vision impairment or blindness have significantly higher risk of in-hospital mortality and lower odds of being discharged home, says the coauthor of a recent study.
New heart failure indication for SGLT-2 inhibitor
In addition to approving a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor for use in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, the FDA recently warned about certain ventilators failing and a possible risk of cancer with a lymphoma medication.
DOACs better than heparin for periop thromboprophylaxis, review finds
The systematic review and network meta-analysis found lower rates of symptomatic venous thromboembolism in surgical patients given direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) versus the standard dose of low-molecular-weight heparin, without a significant increase in bleeding.
Patients with opioid use disorder twice as likely to get postacute care referral rejection
Inpatients with opioid use disorder were referred to more postacute care facilities but rejected significantly more often than other patients, even after researchers controlled for factors including homelessness and psychiatric disease, a Boston safety-net hospital found.
Real-time clinical decision support associated with improved pneumonia care
A trial at 16 hospitals in Utah found lower mortality rates, improved antibiotic prescribing, and increased discharge to home after deployment of guideline-based electronic clinical decision support for pneumonia care in the ED.
Being visited in the ICU associated with lower risk for psychiatric outcomes
A retrospective cohort study found that over a third of critically ill patients were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder in the year after discharge, but risk was lower in the 96% of patients who received in-person visits from family and friends during their ICU stay.