EMRad: Can’t Miss Adult Knee Injuries

knee radiology

Figure 1: Normal AP knee x-ray. Case courtesy of Dr Andrew Dixon, Radiopaedia.org, annotations by Stephen Villa MD.

Have you ever been working a shift at 3am and wondered, “Am I missing something? I’ll just splint and instruct the patient to follow up with their PCP in 1 week.” This is a reasonable approach, especially if you’re concerned there could be a fracture. But we can do better. Enter the “Can’t Miss” series: a series organized by body part that will help identify injuries that ideally should not be missed. This list is not meant to be a comprehensive review of each body part, but rather to highlight and improve your sensitivity for these potentially catastrophic injuries. Now: the knee.

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By |2020-06-24T07:43:05-07:00Jun 29, 2020|EMRad, Orthopedic, Radiology, Trauma|

PEM Pearls: Metered-Dose Inhaler versus Nebulizer

metered-dose inhaler

An 8-year-old is brought in by her parents with shortness of breath and wheezing. She’s been receiving her “rescue inhaler” at home and continues to have symptoms. You examine her and find that she has normal oxygen saturation, mild tachypnea and retractions, and diffuse wheezes. You think that she’s experiencing an acute asthma exacerbation. Given the current pandemic, and a recent report that administering nebulizer treatments to COVID-19 positive patients was correlated with transmission of COVID-19 to healthcare workers [1], what is the best way to treat the patient?

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By |2020-07-01T07:58:37-07:00Jun 24, 2020|PEM Pearls, Tox & Medications|

Silence is not an option: Addressing structural racism in medical education

racismThe year 2020 has been a year of upheaval. The COVID pandemic revealed disparities in healthcare and its effects on marginalized groups such as the Black community. The pervasive effects of structural racism affect all of us, including in medical education. We cannot and must not remain silent. As we honor Juneteenth, #BlackLivesMatter, and #WhiteCoatsforBlackLives, let us reflect on ways we can address racial injustice in our direct environment.

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By |2020-06-19T08:37:15-07:00Jun 19, 2020|Academic, Emergency Medicine, Life|

Hydroxychloroquine Toxicity

hydroxychloroquine toxicityAs the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unravel, the role of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in the treatment of patients with this disease has been a major focus of discussion on the news and social media. Despite the lack of good data supporting its use in the clinical setting, there have been numerous reports of individual consumption of HCQ resulting in accidental overdose and even death. It is therefore important to recognize and manage patients who may present with HCQ toxicity.

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By |2020-06-16T09:03:04-07:00Jun 17, 2020|COVID19, Tox & Medications|

Trick of the Trade: Windex for Ring Removal

A 41-year-old male presents with left-hand pain after an altercation. The patient’s hand is noted to be swollen and tender, particularly over the 4th-5th metacarpals, with mild swelling extending to the 4th-5th digits. The patient also notes that he slightly deformed his wedding ring during the fight and he has since been unable to remove it. It’s a busy overnight and the patient has been in the waiting room for an hour. While waiting nursing staff had the patient ice his hand while elevated and attempted to remove the ring with a water-based lubricant. All attempts to remove the ring thus far have been unsuccessful.

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By |2020-06-16T09:21:38-07:00Jun 16, 2020|Orthopedic, Tricks of the Trade|

Trick of the Trade: Angiocatheter for manual aspiration of priapism

needle position for priapism

A 25-year-old man presents with 6 hours of penile pain and swelling after recreational penile injection of Trimix (alprostadil, papaverine, and phentolamine). He denies any history of sickle cell disease or penile trauma. On exam, he is in moderate discomfort and has a tumescent penis with a soft glans. You suspect the patient is suffering from ischemic, low-flow priapism. Manual compression and ice application have been attempted with no significant improvement in the patient’s clinical status.

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By |2020-05-13T11:19:13-07:00Jun 10, 2020|Genitourinary, Tricks of the Trade|
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