February 26, 2025
From ‘unbefriended’ to ‘unrepresented’
The American Geriatrics Society updated its position statement on older adults who lack medical decisional capacity, an advance directive, and a surrogate decision-maker. Two of the authors discuss putting the advice into practice.
Cutting down on recurring care
An optional order set helped hospitalists reduce unnecessary repetitive care for medically stable patients.
Lactated Ringer's as initial fluid associated with lower sepsis mortality versus saline
The 90-day morality rate was 12.2% in sepsis patients with hypotension who received lactated Ringer's solution as their initial resuscitation fluid, compared to 15.9% in those who got 0.9% saline, a secondary analysis of a trial found.
Noninvasive ventilation reduced post-cardiac surgery complications in high-risk patients
High-risk patients who were randomized to noninvasive ventilation for five days before and five days after cardiac surgery instead of usual care had significantly lower rates of cardiorespiratory failure at one month and three months after surgery, a single-center French trial found.
Treatment pathway in the ED reduced admissions for atrial fibrillation
The pathway stratified patients presenting to the ED with atrial fibrillation (AF) as low, moderate, or high risk, based on comorbid conditions, hemodynamic stability, and severity of AF symptoms. For low- and moderate-risk patients, ED discharge and outpatient follow-up was considered.
Existing tool helps predict mortality in hospitalized patients with cancer
Patients with a score below 40 on the End-of-life Index had a six-month mortality rate of 16.3% versus 45.9% among those whose score was 40 or higher, a retrospective study at one hospital found.
Take a quiz about the Feb. 19 issue!
Every week, ACP Hospitalist posts a question about the previous week's issue. See how well you remember what you've read compared to other readers.