This is the last installment of Dr. Rahul Patwari’s digital whiteboard video talks on ACLS, specifically focusing on post-resuscitation care and therapeutic hypothermia.
Patients with rotation deformities of the fingers from a metacarpal fracture should be reduced. All fingers should normally point towards the patient’s scaphoid bone.
Metacarpal (MC) fractures are common injuries, which often spark discussions about whether they should be reduced in the ED urgently.
Here’s a quick-reference card to help guide your management decisions. These recommendations may vary slightly based on what references you use. You may need to tailor your decisions based on your regional practices.
Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources.
Thanks to Dr. Nicole Strauss at the UCSF-SFGH Orthopaedic Trauma Institute and my go-to hand expert for her input.
Undifferentiated tachycardias, especially when the rate is extremely fast, make it difficult to see anything other than the QRS complexes! Is there a P or flutter wave?
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What is the definition of bradycardia and tachycardia in the 2010 ACLS guidelines, for the purposes of resuscitation algorithms?
I am in the process of creating a PV card on metacarpal fractures, divided into anatomical areas (base, shaft, neck, head), and am realizing that the EM and orthopedic literature don’t quite agree. Actually they are quite vague on whether reductions should occur in the ED vs orthopedics clinic in the next few days.
Subclavian central lines are commonly touted as the central line site least prone to infection and thrombosis. The problem is that they are traditionally performed without ultrasound guidance. They are done blindly because of the transducer’s difficulty in getting a good view with the clavicle in the way.
Below are the next 3 video installments of Dr. Rahul Patwari’s digital whiteboard talks on ACLS. These videos cover:
I love that each video is less than 15 minutes long. Also, even if you aren’t a medical student, these are great refreshers. For instance, don’t forget that atropine is no longer on the 2010 ACLS algorithm for asystole.