meningitis

Today we talked about a case of bacterial meningitis.

Some key points addressed:

- Empiric antibiotics can be started as soon as the diagnosis is suspected since it takes a few hours for them to penetrate the CSF and obscure the LP finding
- AB include: Ceftriaxone, Vancomycin, and Ampicillin and HIGHER doses
- CT head should be done before LP if patient is >60, recent new seizure (1 week), focal neuro findings  like papilledema, abnormal level of consciousness, history of CNS mass/stroke

Here is a good review on bacterial meningitis.

http://www.proceduresconsult.com/lhsc/ is our online access to procedure videos. NEJM also has free videos.

Happy reading.