The big paper of the month: ketamine vs etomidate for RSI Casey JD, Seitz KP, Driver BE, et al. Ketamine or Etomidate for Tracheal Intubation of Critically Ill Adults. N Engl J Med. 2025 Dec 9. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2511420. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41369227 On its face, this is a fairly simple pragmatic RCT comparing […]
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Here is a summary of the medical topics:
For adults experiencing acute severe asthma, intravenous magnesium may reduce hospital admissions, though the evidence for this effect is considered weak. It does not appear to improve lung function measurements or reduce the need for mechanical ventilation.
Giving tranexamic acid (TXA) within three hours of a traumatic brain injury can reduce deaths related to the head injury. This benefit is particularly noted in patients with milder to moderate initial injuries and those without bilateral fixed dilated pupils. There is no observed benefit if TXA is given after three hours, and it does not increase the risk of blood clots.
In patients newly diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, initiating early rhythm control therapy, through either catheter ablation or antiarrhythmic drugs, decreases the risk of cardiovascular death, stroke, and hospitalization for heart failure. This outcome is independent of the patient’s symptoms.
For acute aortic dissection, beta blockers are the preferred initial medication to rapidly lower heart rate and blood pressure. Calcium channel blockers are not typically used as first-line treatment because they can cause an increase in heart rate if administered alone. They may be considered as a second-line option if blood pressure remains high despite beta blocker use, or if beta blockers are contraindicated, provided that heart rate control is addressed first.
Topical tranexamic acid (TXA) is an effective treatment for managing nosebleeds. It can reduce the rate of rebleeding and the need for additional interventions when compared to standard anterior nasal packing or saline soaked gauze.
https://first10em.com/research-roundup-january-2026/
