Flipside: A Dissenting Opinion on Crystalloid Fluids

In Medical Concepts by Brent Thoma1 Comment

As mentioned in my previous posts on Peer-review in FOAM (here and here), following my post on Ringer’s Lactate and Normal Saline I received feedback via e-mail in an e-mail from Dr. Rory Spiegel, an EM resident from Newark, NJ. He offered a well thought out dissenting opinion on Crystalloid Fluids that I felt deserved a post of its own to counterbalance my previous one (Greetings/goodbyes removed for length). On the topic of …

Normal Saline: The Coke of Crystalloid Fluids

In Medical Concepts by Brent Thoma15 Comments

The nurse looked up from my orders with a quizzical expression on her face. “Why do you always order Ringer’s Lactate?” She asked. I immediately launched into an intense discussion… errr… one sided conversation… about the merits of various IV solutions and their respective electrolyte values and pH. As her eyes quickly glazed over and she glanced at the clock her expression shifted to one of regret. I sensed that I was losing …