Department Blog

The new episode of the Critical Care Perspectives in EM podcast features Professor and Vice Chair Mike Winters, MD, MBA and three EM specialists from academic medical centers in New Orleans, Philadelphia, and San Francisco discussing a recent publication in JAMA that evaluated a machine learning tool to determine the optimal timing of vasopressin initiation (as a second pressor) in patients with septic shock.

Associate Professors Laura J. Bontempo, MD, MEd, and Quincy Tran, MD, PhD, are among the authors of “Is antibiotic prophylaxis necessary for anterior epistaxis with packing? Insights from a large database,” published ahead of print March 19 in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. The study analyzed 20 years of patient data from almost 100 large healthcare organizations and found "very little benefit of prophylactic antibiotics to most patients [who got nasal packing for epistaxis], while posing a potential risk to the overall population. Therefore, we recommend against the routine use of prophylactic antibiotics in clinical practice." The article will appear in the July 2025 issue of AJEM.

Assistant Professors Bennett Myers, MD and Alexis Salerno, MD authored “Mycotic aneurysm with abscess ?A pulsatile chest wall mass,” a case discussion with ultrasound videos, published in April in the Visual Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2025 Apr;39:102240. doi.org/10.1016/j.visj.2025.102240.

Assistant Professors Jessica Downing MD, Daniel Haase MD, and Kevin Jones MD, Associate Professor Quincy Tran, MD, PhD, and colleagues from Shock Trauma authored “No Echo, no problem? Predictors of right heart strain among patients with pulmonary embolism,” published ahead of print on March 17 by the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. The article analyzes the vital signs and lab test values that, in combination, can help identify RHS in pulmonary embolism patients when a transthoracic echocardiogram cannot be obtained without delay. (Am J Emerg Med. 2025 July;93:37-47. Epub ahead of print.)

A lab test finding of Bandemia is a potential marker for severe infection. EM resident Matthew Jackson, MD, Assistant Professor Alexis Salerno, MD, and Professor Stephen Schenkel, MD, MPP, reported on a retrospective quality improvement study in “What happens to reporting when Bandemia becomes a critical alert?” in the January issue of The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. Their chart review examined the incidence of bandemia in two cohorts of ED patients, before and after the UMMC ED instituted its critical alert. (Am J Emerg Med. 2025 Jan;87:105-107. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2024.10.045. Epub 2024 Oct 28. PMID: 39541756.)

Instructor Rohit Menon, MD, and colleagues in the UMSOM Division of Cardiovascular Medicine authored “Skyrocketing troponin after a motor vehicle crash: a traumatic dilemma,” a case report illustrated with angiograms and intravascular ultrasound images and videos, published February 4 in the Journal of Invasive Cardiology.

Assistant Professor Jessica Downing, MD, and Associate Professor Quincy Tran, MD, PhD, are among the authors of “Rurality and Outcomes of Patients Undergoing Mechanical Thrombectomy for Acute Ischemic Stroke,” published in Critical Care Research and Practice. Analysis of 526 UMMC patients found that rural patients (who were transported over longer distances) and urban patients had similar odds of good neurologic outcome at 90 days after the procedure. (Crit Care Res Pract. 2025 Jan 30;2025:4995600. PMID: 39958465; PMCID: PMC11824784)

Professor Stephen Schenkel, MD, MPP, coauthored “Expanding Palliative Care Access ? Bridging Gaps in Diverse Clinical Settings” https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2829290 (doi: 10.1001/jama.2024.24947) an editorial published February 18 in JAMA to accompany a report published in the same issue on a large cluster-randomized trial of palliative care interventions in the EDs of 29 hospitals. Dr. Schenkel serves as an associate editor of JAMA. 2025 Feb 18;333(7):574-575.

Associate Professor Gentry Wilkerson, MD, co-wrote “Substance Use and Addiction Disorders: A Call for Increased Screening and Treatment in the Emergency Department,” an editorial for the special issue of the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. (West J Emerg Med. 2025 Jan;26(1.1):1-2. doi: 10.5811/westjem.41808)

Assistant Professor Alexis Salerno, MD, is the senior author of “Tele-Ultrasound in the Wilderness: A Tutorial Experience for Medical Students" published in the March issue of Wilderness Environmental Medicine (2025 Mar;36(1):97-103. Epub 2024 Nov 25.) Assistant Professor Doug Sward, MD, Professor Brian Euerle, MD, and former Assistant Professor Samantha King, MD, are among the article’s coauthors.