PE’s (or Pulmonary Emboli) are a key part of Emergency Care, something that many of us will consider as a differential diagnosis multiple times of a daily basis, in a similar way to acute coronary syndrome, so we need to be absolute experts on the topic!

A PE normally occurs when a Deep Vein Thrombosis shoots off to the pulmonary arterial tree, occurring in 60-120 per 100,000 of the population per year

The inhospital mortality is 14% and the 90 day mortality is around 20%. But this is proportional to its size, and risk stratifying PE’s once we’ve got the diagnosis is really important.

PE is a real diagnostic challenge and less than 1 in 10 who are investigated for a PE end up with the diagnosis, so knowing the risk factors, associated features and thresholds for work up are really important.

There are some key concepts in risk stratification and particularly in test thresholds that we’ll cover in this episode that are applicable to all of our practice…..we’re excited! Getting these right helps us to avoid missing the diagnosis and equally importantly ensure we aren’t ‘over testing’ & ‘over diagnosing’ because investigation and treatment for a PE isn’t without it’s own risks.

In the episode we’ll talk in depth about factors associated with presentation, risk factors, investigations and finally onto treatments, covering the whole spectrum from low risk PE’s up to those with massive PE’s and cardiac arrest. The evidence base behind the work up and treatments is truly fascinating and we hope you find this episode as eye-opening as we did to prepare for!

Once again we’d love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via X @TheResusRoom!

Simon, Rob & James

Welcome back after the summer break!

Three more papers for you to feast your ears on this month and as always make sure you go and check them out yourselves after you've had a listen!

First up, following on really nicely from the DOSE-VF paper on dual sequential defibrillation we take a look at the paper that looks at the association between shock interval and VF termination. We might be biased but this shines a light on an area that could make a huge difference to the outcomes for patients with refractory VF!

Next; when you're seeing a patient with an upper GI bleed, which scoring/prognostication tool do you use and is it the best? We cover a paper that looks at exactly this question.

Finally we look at whether TXA predisposes patients to a higher risk of venous thromboembolism and whether it might affect our practice patterns.

Once again we’d love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via X @TheResusRoom!

Simon & Rob

The UK REBOA trial left many with doubts over its utility for trauma patients in ED. The time from injury to its use was around 90 minutes and the trial was stopped when it didn't reduce and maybe even increased mortality compared to standard care alone.

But what effect does REBOA have when used prehospitally and how feasible is it? Our first paper, from London HEMS, looks at this and gives a fascinating insight into it's use and the physiological response seen with it.

We've recently looked at dual sequential defibrillation for refractory VF with the DOSE-VF trial. Our second paper this month looks at how a double defibrillator strategy, in the context of cardioversion for AF, may affect restoration of sinus rhythm in obese patients.

Finally we take a look at the use of video livestreaming from scene to EMS, in a feasibility RCT. How can it affect accurate dispatch of the most appropriate resources and what impact does it have on those that use it?

Once again we’d love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via X @TheResusRoom!

Simon & Rob