About

Erik G. Laurin, M.D., is the Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Emergency Medicine and a Clinical Professor in the same department at UC Davis. His clinical interests include emergency airway management, procedural sedation and analgesia, and cardiocerebral resuscitation. His primary focus in education and research is emergency airway management. Dr. Laurin is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and holds a medical license from the State of California. He completed his undergraduate studies in Biology at the University of Michigan and earned his M.D. from UC Davis School of Medicine. His residency in Emergency Medicine was also completed at UC Davis Medical Center. Dr. Laurin has been recognized with several honors, including the UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing Excellence Award in 2020, the Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity and Community in 2019, and the SAEM Master Clinician Bedside Educator Award in 2013. His research and publications reflect a focus on emergency airway management, airway assessment, and rapid-sequence intubation, contributing significantly to the field of emergency medicine.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Anesthesia
• Composite material
• Emergency medicine
• Materials science
• Surgery
• Internal medicine
• Medical emergency
• Psychology
• Psychiatry

Selected publications

• Stem Cell Therapy for Acute Myocardial Infarction and Cardiomyopathy: The Emergency Medicine Perspective

  Medical Research Archives · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Ischemic cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Patients with acute myocardial infarction and cardiomyopathy are commonly treated in the emergency department, with emphasis on pharmacologic stabilization, thrombolysis, and expeditious transfer to percutaneous coronary intervention and/or the inpatient cardiac unit. The nexus between emergency medicine and regenerative medicine, which focuses on repair and restoration of damaged tissue, is just beginning. The use of stem cells, which are capable of extensive proliferation and differentiation into myriad lineage cells, are a key component of regenerative medicine. Over the past two decades, stem cell research has expanded and demonstrated benefit in animal and human studies of acute myocardial infarction and cardiomyopathy. However, stem cell treatment must be initiated early to achieve the best outcome. Emergency physicians may soon be involved in this regenerative process, with procurement and administration of stem cells during the initial stabilization of the acute cardiac patient in the emergency department. In this article, we discuss the emergency medicine perspective on the selection of specific types of stem cells and their adjuncts, route, timing, mechanisms of healing, relevant clinical scenarios, and review the evidence and safety behind this futuristic treatment.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• An intubation technique using hyperangulated video laryngoscopy and a DuCanto suction catheter preloaded with a bougie: A case report with a video demonstration

  Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open · 2024-08-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Video laryngoscopy outperforms direct laryngoscopy for successful orotracheal intubation in the emergency department. When performing video laryngoscopy, emergency physicians may use a standard geometry blade or a hyperangulated blade. Hyperangulated video laryngoscopy is easier when using a rigid hyperangulated stylet instead of a standard malleable stylet. The angulation of the hyperangulated blade makes it difficult to use an endotracheal tube (ETT) introducer ("bougie"). We describe a case report using a DuCanto suction catheter (SSCOR) with a preloaded bougie to perform orotracheal intubation during hyperangulated video laryngoscopy. An adult patient presented to the emergency department in status epilepticus and was intubated for airway protection. Hyperangulated video laryngoscopy was performed with a LoPro S4 (GlideScope) blade; a DuCanto suction catheter was used to deliver a bougie through the vocal cords. The bougie was advanced down the trachea, and the DuCanto suction catheter was removed. The bougie successfully delivered a size 8.0 ETT. Visualization of the larynx with hyperangulated video laryngoscopy is usually easy, but ETT delivery into the trachea can be challenging. Rigid hyperangulated stylets were created to facilitate ETT delivery, but these stylets are expensive and often not available. Traditional teaching says that a bougie cannot be used while intubating with a hyperangulated blade. This case report describes a method to deliver a bougie via a DuCanto suction catheter during hyperangulated video laryngoscopy. It allows for the use of a bougie with a hyperangulated blade and offers a technique to perform hyperangulated video laryngoscopy without a rigid stylet.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Reverse Remodeling of Methamphetamine-Associated Cardiomyopathy: An Update on Mechanisms for Recovery

  Medical Research Archives · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Methamphetamine (MA) use continues to rise worldwide. The adverse effects of MA on the cardiovascular system include cardiomyopathy, dysrhythmias, coronary arterial vasospasm, and atherosclerosis. Methamphetamine-associated cardiomyopathy (MACM) affects predominantly younger male patients and is responsible for an increasing proportion of heart failure emergency department visits, hospital admissions/readmissions, morbidity, and mortality. Reverse remodeling of MACM and full cardiac recovery is achievable in patients who cease using MA and remain abstinent with self-direction, cognitive behavioral therapy, brief interventions, contingency management, motivational interviewing, and residential rehabilitation. Recovery is further enhanced by the addition of an exercise program and guideline-based pharmacotherapy for heart failure, which includes β-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers or angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors. Alternative heart failure treatment with isosorbide dinitrate plus hydralazine, ivabradine, vericiguat, and omecamtiv mecarbil represent further adjuncts which may promote reverse remodeling. Antioxidant compounds such as coenzyme-Q10, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, resveratrol, and cannabidiol may aid in cardiac restoration. Diet changes, metformin and glucose control, stem cell therapy, melatonin, and sleep quality improvement are further steps on the road to recovery. In this article we review the cardiotoxicity of MA, pathogenesis of MACM, and evidence behind pharmacologic and lifestyle interventions to reverse its progression.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Extraluminal Exchange of Supraglottic Airway to Endotracheal Tube With Videolaryngoscope and Bougie

  Journal of Emergency Medicine · 2023

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Anesthesia
  • Medicine
  • Materials science
  PublisherDOI

• Anterior Lung Evisceration Following an Assault with Knife: A Case Report

  Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine · 2021-07-27

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  INTRODUCTION: Evisceration of the lung is a rare consequence of open chest trauma that can be fatal. Evisceration of the lung refers to the protrusion of lung parenchyma through a defect of the thoracic wall, without parietal pleural or skin coverage. CASE REPORT: A 20-year-old man was brought to the emergency department (ED) with left lung evisceration from stab wounds. The eviscerated lung was left in place, and the patient was not intubated in the ED. He was immediately taken to the operating room (OR) for intubation and surgical repair. Other significant injuries were ruled out, the eviscerated lung was retrieved, the chest wall defect was closed, and the patient recovered well. He was discharged after seven days in good condition. CONCLUSION: The initial management of patients with lung evisceration is critical to prevent rapid decompensation and death. Appropriate ED airway management, lung retrieval in the OR, and thoracic wall repair is recommended for patients with lung evisceration.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Comparison of Video Versus Direct Laryngoscopy: A Prospective Prehospital Air Medical Services Study

  Air Medical Journal · 2020 · 6 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Medicine
  • Anesthesia
  • Emergency medicine
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Methamphetamine, Amphetamine, and MDMA Use and Emergency Department Recidivism

  Journal of Emergency Medicine · 2020 · 15 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Psychology
  • Psychiatry
  • Medicine
  PublisherDOI

• Cannabis use and acute coronary syndrome

  Clinical Toxicology · 2019-04-09 · 89 citations

  reviewSenior author

  Introduction: Cannabis smoking can result in elevation of heart rate and blood pressure immediately after use, possibly from sympathetic nervous system stimulation and parasympathetic nervous system inhibition. Vascular inflammation, platelet activation, and carboxyhemoglobin generation have also been proposed as potential side effects of cannabis smoking. As such, an association between cannabis use and acute coronary syndrome has been postulated.Objective: The objective of our study was to analyze systematically the medical literature pertaining to this putative association.Methods: PubMed, Google Scholar, and OpenGrey were queried using a unique search string. All human trials, case series, or case reports of cannabis use and acute coronary syndrome in any language were considered in the literature search. The definition of acute coronary syndrome represented a penumbra that included chest pain, angina pectoris, unstable angina, myocardial infarction, myocardial ischemia, and cardiac arrest. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Our final search strategy included free-text words (TW): (“cannabis”[TW] OR "marijuana"[TW]) AND ("acute coronary syndrome"[TW] OR “myocardial” OR “ischemia”[TW] OR “infarction”[TW] OR “chest pain”[TW] OR “cardiac arrest”[TW] OR “angina”[TW]). To remain consistent over a span of five decades, we specifically did not include any publications with non-phytogenic, non-smoked cannabis as the sole etiology, as these are relatively recent and may possess additional pharmacologic characteristics compared to phytogenic cannabinoids. Therefore, for the purpose of this review, the term “cannabis” refers to the smoked phytogenic form. The search resulted in 325 articles. References in each selected publication were carefully hand-searched for any additional reports having relevance, and a total of 12 publications were identified in this manner. Following comparison and discussion amongst the co-authors, duplicate and non-relevant publications were removed, and a total of 85 publications involving 541,518 human subjects were selected for inclusion. Results were synthesized and reviewed by the authors for relevance. Clinical trials, observational studies, retrospective studies, case series, and case reports were graded using Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine guidelines.Results: There were no Level I randomized blinded controlled studies specifically addressing the cannabis/acute coronary syndrome association. However, there were five Level I systematic reviews, 14 Level II studies with 83,961 subjects, and 14 Level III studies with 457,495 subjects. Conclusions from 28 of these 33 studies highlighted an increased risk of both acute coronary syndrome and chronic cardiovascular disease from cannabis use. The systematic reviews were wide-ranging in topic and scale, and none specifically focused on the association between cannabis use and acute coronary syndrome. The dissenting studies included two systematic reviews, one concluding there was limited and weak evidence for association of cardiovascular disease and acute coronary syndromes with cannabis use, and another citing the evidence was inconclusive. The other dissenting articles were two longitudinal prospective studies and a retrospective review concluding cannabis users had lower post-myocardial infarction mortality. There were 51 case series (Level IV) and case reports (Level V) with 62 subjects. Six cases were female (10%). Average age was 31 ± 12 years, reported maximum heart rate was 88 ± 21 bpm, systolic blood pressure was 125 ± 32 mmHg, and diastolic blood pressure was 80 ± 17 mmHg. ST-segment elevation was documented on 37 (60%) electrocardiograms, and the most common angiographic finding was left anterior descending coronary arterial occlusion and/or stenosis in 22 (35%) patients. Concomitant cardiomyopathy was described in 21 (34%) cases. There were 14 (23%) deaths attributed to acute coronary syndrome associated with cannabis use.Conclusion: There were five Level I systematic reviews, 14 Level II studies with 83,961 subjects, and 14 Level III studies with 457,495 subjects. All but five Level I–III publications highlighted an increased risk of both acute coronary syndrome and chronic cardiovascular disease associated with cannabis use.

  PublisherDOI

• Performance Analysis of Large-scale Realtime Video Stream Configurations

  Gothenburg University Publications Electronic Archive (Gothenburg University) · 2019-11-18

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The rapid technology development has resulted in\nsensors able to deliver very high-quality output. The high quality\ncalls for efficient compression algorithms to handle the vast\namount of data produced. This study aims to find a compression\nalgorithm that delivers video streams of the highest possible\nquality given the constraints real-time processing using the User\nDatagram Protocol (UDP). This paper describes the experimental\napproach created to find such compression algorithm. Machine\nlearning in the form of Bayesian optimization was applied to\nevaluate and hence deduce the optimal encoder parameters for\neach encoder and resolution in scope.\nWebM Project’s VP9 implementation proved to be the most\noptimal encoder in scope for all resolutions evaluated in the experiment\nbut the highest (QXGA - 2048x1536). For video streams\nin QXGA, VP9 hardware accelerated by Intel’s QuickSync was\nfound to perform best.

  Publisher

• The Care of Patients Using Methamphetamine in the Emergency Department: Perception of Nurses, Residents, and Faculty

  Substance Abuse · 2018-03-29 · 18 citations

  articleSenior author

  Background : To determine differences in perception between nurses, residents, and faculty regarding characteristics and treatment of patients who use methamphetamine (meth). Methods : Survey study performed at an urban, university Level I trauma medical center. Results : A total of 80 nurses, 39 residents, and 45 faculty completed the survey. All groups agreed that meth was a significant problem nationwide and in our emergency department (ED). Nurses estimated that 33% of their patients used meth, which differed from residents (18%) and faculty (15%). All agreed that these patients required more effort to care for, utilized more hospital resources, and were more often violent toward staff. Nurses reported higher prevalence of actual assault by patients using meth (70%) than did residents (36%) and faculty (47%), and total lifetime number of assaults. All agreed that patients using meth appropriated prehospital resources at a higher rate than nonusers, had a higher rate of recidivism, and longer ED length of stay. Nurses preferred antipsychotics over benzodiazepines for treatment of meth-induced tachycardia and a lower threshold for treatment of associated hypertension than residents and faculty. For treatment of hypertension, nurses preferred beta-blockers and hydralazine over benzodiazepines. Conclusion : All agreed that meth use is a serious problem in our ED, with high resource utilization, recidivism, and violence against staff. Nurses experienced higher rates of assaults by patients using meth and differed with regard to their disposition and treatment. Treatment guidelines, strategies to mitigate violence towards staff, and interprofessional education may be beneficial, as the stakes of caring for these patients are high and preferences vary between caregivers.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Aaron E. Bair

  University of California, Davis

  11 shared

• John R. Richards

  10 shared

• Pablo Joaquin Erramouspe

  University of California, Davis

  6 shared

• Edward A. Panacek

  University of South Alabama

  6 shared

• John C. Sakles

  University of Arizona

  4 shared

• Ezra A. Amsterdam

  University of California, Davis

  4 shared

• Sanjay Shewakramani

  4 shared

• Richard A. Lange

  Texas Tech University

  4 shared

Labs

• Emergency MedicinePI

Awards & honors

• UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing Excellence Awar…
• Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity and Community,…
• Finalist, Kaiser Foundation Teaching Award, UC Davis School…
• SAEM Master Clinician Bedside Educator Award (2013)
• Alpha Omega Alpha, Faculty Inductee, UC Davis School of Medi…