Expert Commentary: ARISE and ED Sepsis Resuscitation

As we discussed on our last Paper Trail post, the results of the ARISE and ProCESS trials seem to indicate that the most meaningful interventions for a patient in severe sepsis/septic shock are early antibiotics & source control and aggressive resuscitation in an appropriately-monitored environment. 

At our shop, we're currently working on analyzing our own sepsis response data and designing new protocols. In these discussions, some have expressed concern over the potential for giving too much fluid to these patients. The concepts of "fluid responsiveness" and "fluid tolerance" are the subject of much debate in the FOAMed critical care world these days. 
(See the discussions between Drs. Marik and Weingart over at EMCrit for reference.)

Our own ED Critical Care guru, Dr. Christopher Holthaus, stepped up to the plate and offered his views on fluid resuscitation of septic patients in the ED:

FOAMed Digest #6 Update: The Paper Trail

Today, we'd like to introduce a new section to the Everyday EBM FOAMed Digest, which will be published as a standalone post. It may seem a bit counterintuitive, but each week we're going to draw your attention to some of the latest-and-greatest papers from the primary EM literature. Most of these will not be open-access, but we hope you can still access them via the medical library at your institution. A lot of the discussion in the FOAMed world centers around recently-published papers from EM journals. The EM trainee should view FOAMed as a tool to assist with understanding and analysis of this literature, as a forum for discussion and further discovery -- not as a replacement for reading the papers for his/her self. We'll provide you a very short summary here and link you to relevant FOAMed resources if applicable.