Trick of the Trade: The defensive arts against pimping

Thanks to Dr. Rob Roger’s podcast on EM-RAP Educator’s Edition series, I learned of one of the funniest publications EVER in a medical journal. It was published on April 1, 2009 in JAMA. The article focuses on teaching medical students the essential skill set– how to survive “pimping”.

Pimping traditionally occurs when an attending physician poses a difficult question to a learner in a public forum, such as board rounds or in the operating room. As a student or resident, you know that this will happen during your training, and you should be prepared. If you think of pimping as a form of battle, you will need a good defense, and you should mix it up to be successful.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-11-11T19:01:51-08:00Nov 18, 2009|Medical Education, Tricks of the Trade|

A radiology pearl: A subtle orthopedic diagnosis

A man recently presents with knee pain after pivoting and torquing his knee while falling. He complains of concurrent mild ankle pain. He presents with this tib-fib xray. Realizing that a proximal fibular fracture can present concurrently with a medial malleolus fracture or deltoid ligament rupture, we obtained xrays of the ankle. We were looking for a Maisonneuve fracture.

Do you see an ankle injury in these four images?

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-11-11T19:01:52-08:00Nov 13, 2009|Orthopedic, Radiology|

Several times in the ED, I have needed a mirror for patient care.

Example 1

A moderately intoxicated patient presents with a facial or scalp laceration. S/he adamantly refuses to have it repaired in the ED, because of the disbelief of that there is indeed a laceration. You want to show the patient, using a mirror, but you don’t have one. (more…)

By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-11-11T19:01:52-08:00Nov 11, 2009|Tricks of the Trade|

Trick of the Trade: Easy ocular application of fluoroscein

Gently instilling a fluorescein drop into a patient’s eye requires that the patient keep his/her eye still. What do you do for a patient who can’t quite stay still enough, such as an infant? This is an innovative trick of the trade, written by Dr. Sam Ko (Loma Linda EM resident) and Kimberly Chan (Loma Linda medical student).

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-11-11T19:01:53-08:00Nov 4, 2009|Ophthalmology, Tricks of the Trade|

Trick of the Trade: Super-sensitive to eyedrops

We commonly encounter ocular complaints in the Emergency Department. Eye pain can result from chemical exposure, a foreign body, or infection. The first step involves instilling a few drops of topical anesthetics, such as proparacaine, to provide some pain relief. Occasionally, however, you encounter a patient who just can’t keep his/her eye open because of the fear of eyedrops.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-11-11T19:01:54-08:00Oct 28, 2009|Ophthalmology, Tricks of the Trade|

Tricks of the Trade: Low tech solutions to esophageal foreign bodies

Patients can present to Emergency Departments with esophageal foreign bodies. Recently, a patient presented with a doxycycline pill stuck in her esophagus at the mid-chest level. She was taking it for pneumonia. Despite drinking deluges of water for the past 12 hours, the pill remains stuck. You know that doxycycline (pills shown on right) is one of several medications (along with iron or potassium supplements, quinidine, aspirin, bisphosphonates) known for causing erosive pill esophagitis.

She presents to your ED.

What do you do?

With so many direct visualization tools in the ED now available to emergency physicians such as Glidescopes and nasopharyngoscopes, you might be tempted to take a look. However, you can first take a low-tech approach to propel the pill into the stomach. Each of these options has its unique risks and complications, and the risks/benefits should be weighed appropriately.

Glucagon IV – relaxes lower esophageal sphincter (LES)
Nitroglycerin SL – relaxes LES – beware of acute hypotension
Nifedifine SL – relaxes LES – beware of acute hypotension
Carbonated beverage PO- gas forming agent to increase intraesophageal pressure

Instead of pharmacologically moving the pill into the stomach, you can also consider mechanically pushing the pill down using an orogastric tube or blindly pulling it out through the mouth using a foley catheter.

Trick of the Trade: What did we do?

Before we entertained the pharmacologic options, we gave the patient a can of Ensure, because it has a higher viscosity than water. Fifteen minutes later, the pill was pushed into the stomach and the patient’s foreign-body symptoms resolved. A simple $1.50 solution.

Teaching point

Tell all your patients receiving doxycycline to drink plenty of fluids when taking the medication.

Caveat

These low-tech solutions are only appropriate for pill foreign bodies and impacted food boluses in the esophagus, which are at low risk for esophageal perforation. These are NOT applicable to special situations such as button batteries, sharp objects, fish/chicken bones, and coins.

By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-11-11T19:01:54-08:00Oct 21, 2009|Gastrointestinal, Tricks of the Trade|

Trick of the trade: Straightening the guidewire

Did you know that a medical guidewire consists of a flexible central “ribbon wire” externally wrapped with a coil-spring wire?

J-shaped guidewires are commonly used in many medical procedures, such as central lines, arterial lines, and pigtails for pneumothoraces. Knowing more about the guidewire makes it possible to carry out a unique Trick of the Trade. For example, let’s say that the plastic introducer is missing or unusable. Using one hand to stabilize the needle in the patient, how do you use your other hand to re-insert a curved guidewire tip into the hub of a needle?

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-01-28T23:53:30-08:00Oct 14, 2009|Tricks of the Trade|

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