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About Michelle Lin, MD

ALiEM Founder and CEO
Professor and Digital Innovation Lab Director
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of California, San Francisco
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Paucis Verbis card: Vasopressors and Inotropes for Shock

IVdripsmThe treatment of shock should focus on correcting the underlying pathophysiology. With persistent hemodynamic instability, a vasopressor and/or inotrope should be selected. Reviewing receptor physiology can help you select the best-fit agent for the patient’s clinical condition. There is an especially useful table on medication selection in the reviewed 2008 EM Clinics of North America article.

This installment of the Paucis Verbis (In a Few Words) e-card series reviews Vasopressors and Inotropes for the Treatment of Shock.

PV Card: Vasopressors and Inotropes in Shock


Adapted from [1]
Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources.

Edit 3/28/14: Dopamine removed as second-tier agent for septic shock (mainly reserved for rare cases of inappropriate bradycardia at low risk for arrhythmias)

Reference

  1. Ellender T, Skinner J. The use of vasopressors and inotropes in the emergency medical treatment of shock. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2008;26(3):759-86, ix. [PubMed]
By |2021-10-19T18:48:16-07:00Apr 30, 2010|ALiEM Cards, Cardiovascular, Tox & Medications|
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Paucis Verbis card: Skipping the CT prior to LP for meningitis

LumbarPunctureWith increasing awareness of CT’s irradiation risk, I thought I would review a classic 2001 article from the New England Journal of Medicine. Head CT’s previously were commonly performed prior to all lumbar punctures (LP) to rule-out meningitis. When can you safely go straight to an LP without imaging?

Caveat: This review only applies to those patients in whom you suspect meningitis. This does not apply to those being worked up for subarachnoid hemorrhage.

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By |2021-10-19T19:36:53-07:00Apr 23, 2010|ALiEM Cards, Neurology, Radiology|
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Paucis Verbis card: Early goal directed therapy

One of the landmark studies in sepsis was conducted by Dr. Emanuel Rivers (Henry Ford) and published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2001. By managing patients with severe sepsis and septic shock with an “early goal directed therapy” approach, there was an absolute risk reduction of 16%. Furthermore, the number needed to treat to save a life was 6 patients!

This installment of the Paucis Verbis (In a Few Words) e-card series reviews Early Goal Directed Therapy algorithm. The layout is borrowed from a Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF) flowchart.


Adapted from [1]
Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources.

Reference

  1. Rivers E, Nguyen B, Havstad S, et al. Early goal-directed therapy in the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock. N Engl J Med. 2001;345(19):1368-1377. [PubMed]
By |2021-10-19T18:50:19-07:00Apr 16, 2010|ALiEM Cards, Infectious Disease|
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Trick of the Trade: Retracting Swollen Eyelids

EyelidRetractorsmEyelids can become edematous from blunt trauma and local inflammation, making it difficult to visualize the orbit. How do you retract the eyelids, if you don’t have the fancy ophthalmology eyelid retractors?

Trick of the Trade

Use a Q-tip

I thought of this idea when I was rolling up a projector screen in a conference room. Why can’t we use this rotational concept on the upper eyelid to retract it? Rest the Q-tip on the surface of the upper eyelid and slowly rotate the Q-tip to “roll” the eyelid out of the way.

ScreenRollerBelow are a series of photos of a woman with eyelid swelling from conjunctivitis. This technique provides a relatively painless way to retract the eyelid without placing pressure on the orbit itself. Although the images look like I am merely lifting the eyelid using the Q-tip, I am actually twirling the Q-tip.

 Eyelid Roll
Consent and photographs taken by Lourdes Adame
(Visual Aid Project member)
By |2019-01-28T23:42:58-08:00Apr 14, 2010|Ophthalmology, Tricks of the Trade|
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Amazing video: Awake endotracheal intubation

Videos are priceless when trying to teach procedures. This amazing teaching video by Dr. Michael Bailin at Mass General demonstrates a novel way of anesthetizing the airway during an awake intubation.

  1. Inject 3 cc of lidocaine using a small butterfly needle through the cricothyroid membrane. This causes coughing, which spreads the lidocaine throughout the upper airway.
  2. Inject 5 cc of atomized lidocaine through the fiberoptic scope port to anesthetize the posterior oropharynx and vocal cords.
  3. Slide the endotracheal tube over the fiberoptic scope.

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By |2019-01-28T23:43:42-08:00Apr 8, 2010|Medical Education|
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