Can you imagine trying to bag-valve-mask ventilating this patient without teeth?
Edentulous patients can cause BVM problems because air tends to leak out the sides of the mouth, because the cheeks don’t contact the mask as well. You can do a jaw-thrust and/or place an oropharyngeal airway to help. What else can you do?
I just wanted to revisit the Trick of using bedside ultrasonography to diagnose retinal detachments. Be sure to use plenty of ultrasound gel and use the linear tranducer.
Many times, patients who we deem as “noncompliant” with medications may actually be financially unable to afford medications that we prescribe them. Thanks to Amy Kinard, I just learned about this great new website where you can find pharmacies with amazing discounts for common medications.
Your next ED chart: Finger injury
The finger needs to be anesthetized.
Patient: “I have had this freezing before. The needles really hurt! Is there anything else less painful? “
It is 4 a.m. You pick up a chart. Toe pain.
Thinking this could be an easy injury, you walk over to the patient, only to discover: bilateral ingrown toenails. Your heart sinks. In your head, you are thinking: Lateral nail resection? Nail removal? This could take a while.
Is there a less invasive method for treating an ingrown toenail?
Bedside ultrasonography is increasingly being used in the ED to examine the eye. For instance, it can be used to detect a retinal detachment, vitreous hemorrhage, and high intracranial pressure. The technique involves applying ultrasound gel on the patient’s closed eyelid. A generous amount of gel should be used to minimize the amount of direct pressure applied on the patient’s eye by the ultrasound probe.
A patient presents to your Emergency Department with altered mental status and somnolence. You don’t smell alcohol on breath and you don’t see needle track marks. What clinical clue points you towards cocaine or methamphetamine ingestion?