Totally agree. We can critique the individual studies but given there is at least a signal of harm with etomidate (and not with ketamine) across many studies, the only reason to defend routine etomidate is inertia and comfort of learned practice. I use ketamine unless some contraindication now
Posts by Lauren Westafer, DO, MPH, MS
RhD Immunoglobulin (e.g. RhoGAM) After First Trimester Abortion (spontaneous or induced) - I remember this debate in 2012 as a med student and now....many OB recommendations have changed! podcast is on spotify or wherever you listen foamcast.org/2025/03/22/r... #education #MedSky #EMSky #EMedSky
FOAMcast is baaaaaack. A major thought on asthma....we can and should do better for the patients we discharge from the ED... foamcast.org/2025/03/20/i... Listen on spotify, bit.ly/41CoxQF, or wherever you get your podcasts #education #MedSky #EMSky #EMedSky
Let's get the basics right! Updates in anticoagulation selection in hospitalized patients with PE... www.acepnow.com/article/anti... #education #MedSky #EMSky #EMedSky
D-dimer for Ruling out PE in High-Risk Patients?
thesgem.com/2025/03/sgem... @lwestafer.bsky.social #MedSky #MemeMonday
Now recruiting for Resident Editorial Board Fellowship Appointment! #education #MedSky #EMSky #EMedSky #BlueSky
Next up on the Skeptics' Guide to EM is this Hot Off the Press article on diagnosing pulmonary embolisms with @lwestafer.bsky.social #SGEMHOP #MedSky #EBM
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39487597/
Do clinical decision rules actually help with diagnosis in medicine?
The latest #CJEMDebate explores the question with
@first10em.bsky.social @emlitofnote.bsky.social @lwestafer.bsky.social @reverendofdoubt.bsky.social and @paulatkinsonem.bsky.social. #medsky
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
i have really appreciated your input - super informative! if you have any chest radiology colleagues that would be willing to chat with an EM/implementation science researcher, LMK
Thanks for the response! I’m interested in the cases where the report does not comment specifically on pulmonary embolism and just reports filling defect (which isn’t terribly uncommon in some groups)
for follow up: bsky.app/profile/lwes...
This is really interesting
What the qualitative studies says about EM providers and hospitalists is similar to what I used to hear
Practice needs to change to harm fewer patients, myths need to be busted
Question for radiologists (and others)...on CTPAs, if/when you use the term "filling defect" but don't specifically qualify PE yes or PE no, what does this mean/what is your certainty(%) that it is a PE? #MedSky #EMSky #EMedSky #radiology
You routinely ensuring your patients in the ED with asthma exacerbations have an ICS? It's time we get on board www.acepnow.com/article/inha... #education #MedSky #EMSky #EMedSky #BlueSky
Misperceptions of pharmacology and advanced procedures was common. For example, the belief that anticoagulation is withheld during catheter directed thrombectomy was essentially ubiquitous. Lots of fun work to come in this space!
Surprisingly, although people had a general preference for one anticoagulant, they were pretty agnostic to the choice. There was this circular practice of EM starting UFH to allow HM more choices followed by therapeutic momentum (HM continues what ED started).
In @annalsofem.bsky.social we published on the shocking rise in UFH use for PE www.annemergmed.com/article/S019.... We wanted to know why, so we conducted a qual study out in @jama.com and found some interesting things jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... #education #MedSky #EMSky #EMedSky #BlueSky
Stay tuned to a forthcoming publication in JAMA network open 1/3/25 in which we studied this!
Does Andexanet Alpha Improve Outcomes Compared With Four-Factor Prothrombin Complex Concentrate for Reversal of Direct Oral Anticoagulants? www.annemergmed.com/article/S019... #education #MedSky #MedTwitter #EMSky #EMedSky #BlueSky
Guidelines recommend alternatives to UFH in acute PE bc unpredictable pharmacokinetics & resource intensity. we looked at nearly 300K pts hospitalized w/acute PE & found out UFH use has increased! www.annemergmed.com/article/S019... @annalsofem.bsky.social #education #MedSky #EMSky #EMedSky #BlueSky