Paucis Verbis card: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

Atraumatic subarachnoid bleeds are most commonly caused by ruptured intracranial aneurysms.

This installment of the Paucis Verbis (In a Few Words) e-card series reviews the current management, knowledge, and challenges in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).

PV Card: Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

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

Reference

Edlow J, Malek A, Ogilvy C. Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: update for emergency physicians. J Emerg Med. 2008;34(3):237-251. [PubMed]

By Michelle Lin, MD|2021-10-19T19:03:54-07:00Mar 5, 2010|ALiEM Cards, Neurology|

Trick of the trade: Irrigation scalp wound photos

I mentioned from an earlier post about building a “head basin” for collecting irrigation fluid prior to wound closure. This basin prevents a deluge of fluid from soaking the gurney sheets and patient.

I finally managed to capture this trick in action, while a student was irrigating an eyebrow laceration.

Pearl

When cutting out a semi-circular or rectangular hole in the basin, be sure that there remains a 2-4 inch lip at the bottom to ensure that fluid can collect in the basin.

By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-02-19T18:53:55-08:00Mar 3, 2010|Tricks of the Trade|

Great teaching video: Cell and flare

Using the slit lamp can be a challenge to learn, especially if you haven’t seen pathology before. In checking for anterior uveitis (i.e. iritis), you need to look for “cell and flare”. In theory, you know that you are looking for inflammatory cells and “flare”, which resembles a light beam being filtered through smoke.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-01-30T11:38:44-08:00Mar 2, 2010|Ophthalmology|

Paucis Verbis card: NIH Stroke Scale

Patients present with acute strokes to the Emergency Department. Time is of the essence to obtain a rapid neurologic exam, draw labs, get CT imaging, and consulting a neurologist especially if the patient presents within 3 hours of onset. To help the neurologist determine whether the patient should get thrombolytics, calculating a NIH Stroke Scale score is useful.w

In this installment of the Paucis Verbis (In a Few Words) e-card series, here is the NIHSS scoresheet.

Score 0	No stroke
Score 1-4	Minor stroke
Score 5-15	Moderate stroke
Score 16-20	Moderate-severe stroke
Score 21+	Severe stroke

PV Card: NIH Stroke Scale

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Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources.

By Michelle Lin, MD|2021-10-19T19:07:03-07:00Feb 26, 2010|ALiEM Cards, Neurology|

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.

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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|