August 2018; papers of the month

08/01/18 • 27 min

Welcome to August's papers of the month.

So this is our last offering for the summer until whilst we take a short break until September, so we had to finish off we 3 great papers!

First up we look at the drug of the moment (or decade...) in tranexamic acid and the effect that it has on outcomes in primary intracerebral haemorrhage.

Next, what role does point of care ultrasound (POCUS) hold in the patient presenting with undifferentiated shock? We look at a randomised control trial of POCUS in this patient cohort that assesses the ability to translate POCUS into a mortality benefit.

Finally we look at a delphi study published in the EMJ which explores expert opinion upon multiple aspects of paediatric traumatic arrests. The results are fascinating and may inform some of the CRM used in the next case you see.

As always we strongly suggest you have a look at the papers yourself and come to your own conclusions. Make sure you check out the hyperlinked blogs below that we mention in the podcast that contain some fantastic critiques. We'd also love to hear any comments either at the foot of this page or on twitter to @TheResusRoom.

Enjoy!

Simon & Rob

References & Further Reading

Tranexamic acid for hyperacute primary IntraCerebral Haemorrhage (TICH-2): an international randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 superiority trial. Sprigg N. Lancet. 2018

Does Point-of-Care Ultrasonography Improve Clinical Outcomes in Emergency Department Patients With UndifferentiatedHypotension? An International Randomized Controlled Trial From the SHoC-ED Investigators. Atkinson PR. Ann Emerg Med. 2018

Paediatric traumatic cardiac arrest: a Delphi study to establish consensus on definition and management. Rickard AC. Emerg Med J. 2018

St Emlyns JC; Tich Tich Boom?

First10EM; TXA in ICH (TICH-2)

Welcome to August's papers of the month.

So this is our last offering for the summer until whilst we take a short break until September, so we had to finish off we 3 great papers!

First up we look at the drug of the moment (or decade...) in tranexamic acid and the effect that it has on outcomes in primary intracerebral haemorrhage.

Enjoy!

Simon & Rob

References & Further Reading

Tranexamic acid for hyperacute primary IntraCerebral Haemorrhage (TICH-2): an international randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 superiority trial. Sprigg N. Lancet. 2018

Paediatric traumatic cardiac arrest: a Delphi study to establish consensus on definition and management. Rickard AC. Emerg Med J. 2018

St Emlyns JC; Tich Tich Boom?

First10EM; TXA in ICH (TICH-2)

Previous Episode

Adrenaline in Cardiac Arrest; PARAMEDIC2

Drugs in cardiac arrest are controversial. Prehospital research is notoriously difficult to perform. PARAMEDIC2 has just published in the New England Journal of Medicine and is a multi centre randomised placebo controlled trial looking at adrenaline (or epinephrine depending on which side of the pond you reside) in out of hospital cardiac arrest, no mean undertaking and a landmark paper.

The paper has gained a huge amount of traction online with multiple blogs discussing the primary outcome which showed a higher survival rate in those receiving adrenaline when compared to placebo. This has been accompanied with a firm debate over the secondary outcomes, which include the rate of survival with a favourable neurological outcome (mRS 0-3), which showed no statistically significant difference between the two treatment arms, but in pure numbers gave a higher proportion of favourable outcomes in the adrenaline group.

The trade off for this increased survival is the significant number of survivors with a poor neurological outcome.

The question on everyone's lips then being; should we continue to administer adrenaline in cardiac arrest given the findings from this study?

In the podcast we run over the main findings of the paper and are lucky enough to speak to the lead author Professor Gavin Perkins about the paper and some of the questions we and you have had following publication of the paper. A huge thanks to Gavin for taking the time to do this.

Have a listen, enjoy, and let us know any thoughts or feedback you have

Simon, Rob & James

References & Further Reading

PARAMEDIC2; Warwick University Clinical Trials Unit

A Randomized Trial of Epinephrine in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. Perkins GD. N Engl J Med. 2018

PARAMEDIC2 Protocol

Testing Epinephrine for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. Callaway CW. N Engl J Med. 2018

First10EMParamedic 2: Epinephrine harms/helps in out of hospital cardiac arrest

REBEL Cast Ep56 PARAMEDIC-2: Time to Abandon Epinephrine in OHCA?

Next Episode

Intubation or supraglottic airway in cardiac arrest; AIRWAYS-2

So we're back from our summer hiatus with a real treat. The long awaited AIRWAYS-2 paper has just been released and we've been lucky enough to speak with the lead author, Professor Jonathan Benger, about the paper and discuss what the findings mean for cardiac arrest management.

AIRWAYS-2 looks at the initial advanced airway management strategy for paramedics attending out of hospital cardiac arrests, essentially whether or not the aim should be to place a supraglottic airway device or an endotracheal tube when advancing from simple airway techniques. The study was a huge undertaking with many speculating over how the results would change practice, including discussion of how it may affect paramedic's practice of intubation, all of which we cover in the podcast.

Before you listen to the podcast make sure you have a look at the paper yourself, have a listen to PHEMCAST's previous episode which covers the study design and have a look at the infographics on the website which summarise the primary outcome and secondary analysis and which we refer to in the interview with Professor Benger.

In the podcast we refer to Jabre's paper which can be found below and we also covered in May's papers podcast. Have a listen to the interview and let us know any thoughts or feedback you have, we're sure this one will create a lot of discussion!

Simon, Rob & James

References & Further Reading

Effect of a Strategy of a Supraglottic Airway Device vs Tracheal Intubation During Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest on Functional Outcome. The AIRWAYS-2 Randomized Clinical Trial. Benger J. JAMA. 2018

PHEMCAST; the LMA

Effect of Bag-Mask Ventilation vs Endotracheal Intubation During Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation on Neurological Outcome After Out-of-Hospital Cardiorespiratory Arrest: A Randomised Clinical Trial. Jabre P. JAMA. 2018

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