Trick of the trade: Spicing up your evidence-based lecture

Before I start creating a new talk, I ask myself 3 questions:

Who will be in the audience?
How can I make my talk more worthwhile to audience members, beyond their just reading the material/handout/articles on their own?
Am I giving a talk before or after Dr. Amal Mattu? If so, just be resigned to being second-best.

By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-02-19T18:55:41-08:00Feb 24, 2010|Medical Education, Tricks of the Trade|

Paucis Verbis card: Ankle fractures

$Lauge-Hansen Classification of Ankle fractures$ Ankle fractures are a common injury diagnosed in the Emergency Department. Being able to speak Ortho-ese (i.e. the language of orthopedists) is invaluable in consulting the orthopedist over the phone. One ankle fracture classification system that our orthopedists like to use is the Lauge-Hansen system.

PV Card: Lauge-Hansen Classification of Ankle Fractures

Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources.

By Michelle Lin, MD|2021-10-19T19:08:02-07:00Feb 19, 2010|ALiEM Cards, Orthopedic, Radiology|

iPhone uses in the Emergency Department

Occasionally, I get a rare – “Hey congrats on the article!” comment from residents or students. It’s usually in reference to my ACEP News column that comes out every 3 months on Tricks of the Trade. However, I got about 3 shout-outs in the past 2 days. How odd.

Then I saw one of our office staff who was reading EM News. “Hey cool!” she said. Totally confused, I realized that I was quoted on the front page of this week’s publication about iPhone applications in EM. Many months ago, I had done a brief telephone interview with the writer.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-11-11T19:01:35-08:00Feb 18, 2010|Social Media & Tech, Tricks of the Trade|

Trick of the Trade: My new penlight

On any given day in the ED, I use my super-bright penlight 2-5 times a day. It is amazing what things I’ve almost missed without a bright LED flashlight.

Subtle HSV-2 labial ulcerations in a female patient with dysuria
Additional scalp lacerations hidden in the hair
Tonsillar exudates in a patient with strep pharyngitis
Unequal pupillary responses in a brightly lit trauma room in a head-injured patient

I wanted to revisit a prior post about the importance of changing your Tungsten penlight to a LED light.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-01-28T23:47:58-08:00Feb 17, 2010|Tricks of the Trade|

Paucis Verbis card: Urinary tract infection

In this installment of the Paucis Verbis (In a Few Words) e-card series, the topic is Urinary Tract Infection. UTIs are one of the most common infections that we treat in the Emergency Department.

PV Card: Urinary Tract Infection

Adapted from [1]
Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources.

Reference

Norris D, Young J. Urinary tract infections: diagnosis and management in the emergency department. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2008;26(2):413-30, ix. [PubMed]

By Michelle Lin, MD|2021-10-19T19:10:04-07:00Feb 12, 2010|ALiEM Cards, Genitourinary|

Beware the hidden tibia plateau fracture

Find the fracture in this patient with blunt knee trauma.

As a general rule, plain films are insensitive in ruling out orthopedic injuries. One particularly tricky area is the knee. This 2-view knee series above is normal.

Did you know that the sensitivity of picking up knee fractures is as low as 79% with a 2-view series and 85% with a 4-view series? With the advent of CT imaging, more and more subtle fractures are being found.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-11-11T19:01:36-08:00Feb 11, 2010|Orthopedic, Radiology|

Trick of the trade: Minimizing post-LP headache

Have you ever performed a lumbar puncture (LP) in a patient, only to have them return the next day for new debilitating headaches? It’s worse when sitting up, and much improved when laying down. You hate adding more problems for the patient, put you are certain that s/he now has a post-LP headache.