July 5, 2023
Procalcitonin do's and don'ts
Although the optimal use of procalcitonin is still up for debate, there are best practices for getting the most bang for this blood test.
New antibiotic approved for hospital-acquired pneumonia
The FDA approved sulbactam and durlobactam for injection to treat hospital-acquired or ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by susceptible strains of Acinetobacter baumannii-calcoaceticus complex, among other recent actions.
Chest physicians make 11 recommendations on antithrombotic therapy in COVID-19
The recommendations on prevention and management of arterial thrombosis and thromboembolism are not a major departure from prepandemic ones, according to an expert panel from the American College of Chest Physicians.
Effort to increase prescribing of NSAIDs showed no effect in trial
Researchers discontinued a hard stop alert that had been added to the admission order set when they found that it didn't increase hospitalists' use of NSAIDs for multimodal pain management.
Functional status predicts benefit of surgery in older patients with infective endocarditis
Surgery was strongly associated with one-year survival in patients hospitalized with left-sided infective endocarditis at ages 80 years or older, except if they were unable to walk unassisted or had an Activities of Daily Living score less than 4 at baseline.
U.S. uses mechanical ventilation much more than Canada, England, especially for elderly
Invasive mechanical ventilation was provided to 209 patients ages 80 years or older per 100,000 population in England, compared to 694 in Canada and 1,788 in the U.S., an analysis of 2018 data showed.