Chest
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Case Reports
Avoiding vessel laceration in thoracentesis: a role of vascular ultrasound with color Doppler.
Thoracentesis is considered a relatively safe and well-established procedure commonly done at the bedside with minimal risk of complication. Thoracentesis-related hemothorax is uncommon; however, it may be life-threatening. ⋯ It is important for proceduralists to understand not only the tortuosity of the intercostal artery covering 25% to 50% of the intercostal space, but also the presence of traversing collateral arteries. Herein, we discuss the potential benefit of vascular ultrasonography with color Doppler during thoracentesis, with the goal of avoiding vessel injury and hemorrhage.
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In a pandemic, needs for ventilators might overwhelm the limited supply. Outcome predictors have been proposed to guide ventilator triage allocation decisions. However, pandemic triage predictors have not been validated. This quantitative simulation study evaluated outcomes resulting from allocation strategies varying in their performance for selecting short-stay survivors as favorable candidates for ventilators. ⋯ Performance of unvalidated pandemic ventilator triage predictors is unknown and possibly inferior to first-come, first-served allocation. Poor performance of unvalidated predictors proposed for triage would represent an inadequate plan for stewarding scarce resources and would deprive some patients of fair access to a ventilator, thus falling short of sound ethical foundations.