Hospital Medicine Alert – March 1, 2009
March 1, 2009
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Perioperative Beta Blockers
The ACC/AHA guidelines recommend perioperative beta blockers for those already on them, patients undergoing vascular surgery, or those having intermediate- to high-risk surgery with established coronary heart disease, or at high risk of having it. However, recent studies have shown no beneficial effect of perioperative beta blockers and potential for harm. -
Rapid Response Team Did Not Reduce Hospital-wide Codes or Mortality
With the largest cohort and longest follow-up yet reported, this prospective single-center study found that implementing a rapid response team reduced codes outside the ICU but had no effect on either hospital-wide code rates or overall patient mortality. -
Posterior ECG Leads Improve the Detection of Left Circumflex Coronary Artery Occlusion
Optimal management of transmural myocardial infarction (MI) depends on rapid reperfusion of the occluded infarct artery. Therefore, accurate early diagnosis is the cornerstone of initial patient assessment in the emergency department. -
Benefits of a Dedicated ICU Clinical Pharmacist
In this large epidemiology study using a previous survey and 2004 Medicare data focusing on serious infections in the ICU, hospitals with dedicated ICU clinical pharmacists had lower ICU mortality rates, shorter ICU stays, and reduced charges. -
MRSA VAP: Vancomycin or Linezolid?
This open-label, multicenter trial showed that treatment of MRSA ventilator-associated pneumonia with linezolid was associated with non-statistically significant improvements in microbiologic cure, clinical cure, survival, duration of mechanical ventilation, and ICU length of stay when compared to therapy with vancomycin.