FacebookRssXInstagramSoundCloud
Generic filters
Exact matches only

Trick of the Trade: Fingertip injuries

FignernailGone2sm fingertip injuriesFingertips can get injured in a variety of ways such as machetes, meat grinders, and broken glass. You name it, and we’ve probably seen it. Some don’t actually need anything invasive done because the skin is basically just torn off. The wound just needs to be irrigated, explored, and then bandaged to allow for secondary wound closure.

What do you do if the finger injury keeps oozing and the finger tip is too painful for the patient to apply firm pressure? Poking the finger with 2 needles to perform a digital block seems a bit overkill.

(more…)

By |2020-02-12T20:41:43-08:00Jun 8, 2011|Orthopedic, Trauma, Tricks of the Trade|
Read More

Paucis Verbis: Head CT clinical decision rules in trauma

HeadCTbleedThe ideal clinical decision tool has a sensitivity and specificity of 100%.

You need a high sensitivity to be sure that your negative result indeed predicts a true negative. That means if your clinical decision tool suggests that you don’t need to get a head CT, then your head CT would have been normal.

On the flip side, this realistically means there is a low-moderate specificity. That means a clinical decision tool with at least 1 positive criterion does not always mean that there will be an abnormal finding on head CT.

There are 3 major clinical decision rules that I’ve heard tossed around in the literature:

  • Canadian CT Head Rules (CCHR)
  • New Orleans Criteria (NOC)
  • National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study (NEXUS)-II

There is no perfect tool.

Take a look at these decision rules and their inclusion criteria.

  • The CCHR included patients with GCS 13-15. The NOC initially enrolled only patients with a GCS of 15.
  • All factor in age (≥65 years for CCHR and NEXUS-II; ≥60 years for NOC).
  • Interestingly only the CCHR, for better or worse, take into account mechanism of injury. I’m not sure I would obtain a head CT on a pedestrian with a graze wound on the foot from a slow-moving vehicle.

Which do you use? I use a combination of all 3 and my clinical gestalt.

PV Card: Head CT in Trauma – Clinical Decision Tools


Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources.

By |2021-10-15T10:59:57-07:00May 13, 2011|ALiEM Cards, Radiology, Trauma|
Read More

Trick of the Trade: Steristrip-suture combo for thin skin lacerations

Laceration Thin SkinLacerations of elderly patients or chronic corticosteroid users can be a challenge because they often have very thin skin. Sutures can tear through the fragile skin. Tissue adhesives may not adequately close the typically irregularly-edged laceration.

How do you repair these lacerations?
Do you just slap a band-aid on it?

(more…)

By |2019-11-29T18:57:44-08:00Mar 30, 2011|Geriatrics, Trauma, Tricks of the Trade|
Read More

Paucis Verbis card: Cervical spine imaging rules

CervicalCollarThere is constant debate on whether to image the cervical spine of blunt trauma patients. Fortunately, there are two clinical decision tools available to help you with your evidence-based practice.

The NEXUS and Canadian C-spine Rules (CCR) are both validated studies which both quote a high sensitivity (over 99%) in detecting clinically significant cervical spine fractures. Both studies primarily used plain films in evaluating their patients.

Sensitivity (%)Specificity (%)
NEXUS99.612.6
CCR99.445.1

 

NEXUS

National Emergency X-radiography Utilization Study

A patient’s neck can be clinically cleared safely without radiographic imaging if all five low-risk conditions are met:

  1. No posterior midline neck pain or tenderness
  2. No focal neurological deficit
  3. Normal level of alertness
  4. No evidence of intoxication
  5. No clinically apparent, painful distracting injury*

* Defined as “a condition thought by the clinician to be producing pain sufficient to distract the patients from a second (neck) injury. Examples may include, but are not limited to the following:

  1. Long bone fracture,
  2. A visceral injury requiring surgical consultation,
  3. A large laceration, degloving injury, or crush injury,
  4. Large burns, or
  5. Any other injury producing acute functional impairment

Physicians may also classify any injury as distracting if it is thought to have the potential to impair the patient’s ability to appreciate other injuries.”

Canadian C-spine Rules (CCR)

The basic approach in this flow-chart is to (1) make sure that the patient meets the same inclusion criteria as in the CCR study. Then (2) determine if there are high-risk findings. If so, go directly to imaging. (3) If there are no high-risk findings, check to see if the patient qualifies as a low-risk candidate where you might be able to clinically clear the c-spine without imaging. (4) If the patient is neither high or low risk, then the patient is moderate risk and requires imaging. Here’s a flow chart that I made to help you remember:


Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources.

Note: Many emergency physicians go straight to CT imaging for patients with neck tenderness and moderate/high risk findings. I personally rarely use the CCR algorithm because I can rarely remember all of the criteria. NEXUS is nice because of its simplicity. Where the CCR algorithm IS helpful is in clinical clearance of the low-risk patient with neck pain. I’ve cleared many patients who self-present with a whiplash mechanism (simple rear-end motor vehicle crash) and diffuse neck pain. By NEXUS criteria, you’d have to image them because they have neck tenderness. By CCR criteria, if they can actively rotate their neck 45 degrees left and right, they don’t have a clinically significant c-spine injury. No imaging needed.

By |2021-10-17T09:17:48-07:00Dec 10, 2010|ALiEM Cards, Orthopedic, Trauma|
Read More

Paucis Verbis card: Penetrating abdominal trauma

penetrating abdominal traumaWhen I did my residency training in Emergency Medicine and in the first few years as an attending, we regularly performed diagnostic peritoneal lavages in patients with stab wounds injuries to the abdomen. Patients also routinely went to the operating room for exploration.

Now with the evolution of CT imaging technology and more clinical studies, there is now a role for a less invasive management approach. These are the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) guidelines.

PV Card: Penetrating Abdominal Trauma


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

Reference

  1. Como JJ, Bokhari F, Chiu WC, et al. Practice Management Guidelines for Selective Nonoperative Management of Penetrating Abdominal Trauma. The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care. 2010;68(3):721-733. doi: 10.1097/ta.0b013e3181cf7d07
By |2021-10-18T10:21:39-07:00Jul 9, 2010|ALiEM Cards, Trauma|
Read More

Paucis Verbis card: Burn Wounds

burn woundsBurn classification and management are key skills for ED providers to remember. Depending on the prevalence of burns in your ED, it may be hard for forget the details. So here is a PV reference card on the rule of 9’s, different classifications of burns, and indications for burn unit referral.

Update (April 22, 2016): This card was updated by Dr. Christian Rose (UCSF-SFGH) to reflect current evidence that topical antibiotics and honey are IN, while silver sulfadiazine is OUT for partial-thickness burns.

PV Card: Burn Wounds

Adapted from [1-3]
Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources.

References

  1. Gómez R, Cancio L. Management of burn wounds in the emergency department. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2007;25(1):135-146. [PubMed]
  2. Malik K, Malik M, Aslam A. Honey compared with silver sulphadiazine in the treatment of superficial partial-thickness burns. Int Wound J. 2010;7(5):413-417. [PubMed]
  3. Jull A, Cullum N, Dumville J, Westby M, Deshpande S, Walker N. Honey as a topical treatment for wounds. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;(3):CD005083. [PubMed]
By |2021-10-18T10:23:37-07:00Jul 2, 2010|ALiEM Cards, Dermatology, Trauma|
Read More

Paucis Verbis card: Pediatric blunt head injury

Epidural hemorrhage blunt head traumaIn this installment of the Paucis Verbis (In a Few Words) e-card series, the topic is Pediatric Blunt Head Trauma.

This a particularly relevant topic given the recent press and discussions about CT irradiation and the cancer risk especially in pediatric patients. It’s also relevant since Dr. Nate Kuppermann (UC Davis) just gave Grand Rounds at our UCSF-SFGH EM residency program. He first-authored a landmark 2009 Lancet article on minor head injury in kids.

PV Card: Pediatric Blunt Head Trauma


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

 

Update June 27, 2017

We collaborated with PECARN and CanadiEM to create visual PECARN’s official decision tool.

Reference

  1. Kuppermann N, Holmes J, Dayan P, et al. Identification of children at very low risk of clinically-important brain injuries after head trauma: a prospective cohort study. Lancet. 2009;374(9696):1160-1170. [PubMed]
By |2021-10-19T19:12:36-07:00Feb 5, 2010|ALiEM Cards, Pediatrics, Trauma|
Read More
Go to Top