SGEM hot off the press: Hypertonic saline in severe traumatic brain injury: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

As part of the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine’s (CJEM) developing social media strategy,1 we are collaborating with the Skeptics’ Guide to Emergency Medicine (SGEM) to summarize and critically appraise the current emergency medicine (EM) literature using evidence-based medicine principles. In the “Hot Off the Press” series, we select original research manuscripts published in CJEM to be featured on the SGEM website/podcast and discussed by the study authors and the online EM community. A similar collaboration is under way between the SGEM and Academic Emergency Medicine. What follows is a summary of the selected article, the immediate post-publication synthesis from the SGEM podcast, commentary by the first author, and the subsequent discussion from the SGEM blog and other social media. Through this series, we hope to enhance the value, accessibility, and application of important, clinically relevant EM research. In this, the second SGEM HOP hosted collaboratively with CJEM, we discuss a systematic review evaluating the use of hypertonic saline in the treatment of severe traumatic brain injury2.