Latest posts

A February 2020 preview of the proposed CODA conference programme in Melbourne. Simon Carley describes its links with SMACC, its wider clinical audience and the planned combination of medicine, ethics, education and environmental concerns, including scrutiny of the conference's own impact.

The January 2020 blog roundup from Iain and Simon. The episode notes link to early coronavirus coverage, ultrasound-guided vascular access, the Critical Care Reviews trials and reflections on diagnostics, learning and the changing emergency care workforce.

Could selected patients with a spontaneous pneumothorax avoid a chest drain? This 2020 appraisal examines a conservative-management trial, its missing follow-up data, non-inferiority margin and applicability to everyday practice, alongside the trial authors' challenge to the reviewer's cautious interpretation.

A review of the January 2020 interim BSPED guidance on diabetic ketoacidosis in children and young people. Chris Gray explains changes to diagnosis, severity assessment, fluids, potassium and insulin, alongside the evidence and practical questions raised by that edition of the guidance.

Ashley Liebig's January 2020 introduction to the novel coronavirus outbreak, written as cases began appearing beyond China. The article records the early questions facing clinicians and the information available at that point, offering a historical snapshot rather than an up-to-date account of COVID-19.

Do longer ultrasound-guided peripheral cannulas last longer in patients with difficult intravenous access? This randomised-trial appraisal explores catheter survival, insertion success and the amount of catheter within the vein, while distinguishing longer peripheral cannulas from midlines and considering the study's protocol limitations.