Article review: SAEM Tests
This is is a great look back at how SAEM Tests were developed and now used by EM clerkships across the country. Because EM does not have a National Board of Medical Examiners shelf exam, a tremendous effort was made by the authors to create a set of validated questions for clerkship directors to use. Specifically point serial correlation coefficients (range -1 to +1) were calculated for each question. A high coefficient means a high correlation between the performance on the individual test question and the performance on the overall test. After rewriting 25% of the test questions because of [+]
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 [+]
Hot off the press: Free EM Practice articles
Thanks to EB Medicine, “Emergency Medicine Practice” articles from 2007 and earlier are now free! This series is a well-written and practical evidence-based review resource for EM physicians. It’s a great place to start reading about bread-and-butter EM content, especially for medical students and junior residents. There haven’t been too much change in the past 3 years on many of the topics. [+]
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. [+]
Paucis Verbis card: 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.
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. [+]
Trick of the Trade: My new penlight
On any given day in the ED, I use my super-bright penlight 2-5 times a day. It is amazing what things I’ve almost missed without a bright LED flashlight. Subtle HSV-2 labial ulcerations in a female patient with dysuria Additional scalp lacerations hidden in the hair Tonsillar exudates in a patient with strep pharyngitis Unequal pupillary responses in a brightly lit trauma room in a head-injured patient I wanted to revisit a prior post about the importance of changing your Tungsten penlight to a LED light. [+]
Paucis Verbis card: Urinary tract infection
In this installment of the Paucis Verbis (In a Few Words) e-card series, the topic is Urinary Tract Infection. UTIs are one of the most common infections that we treat in the Emergency Department. PV Card: Urinary Tract Infection Adapted from [1] Go to ALiEM (PV) Cards for more resources. Reference Norris D, Young J. Urinary tract infections: diagnosis and management in the emergency department. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2008;26(2):413-30, ix. [PubMed]
Beware the hidden tibia plateau fracture
Find the fracture in this patient with blunt knee trauma. As a general rule, plain films are insensitive in ruling out orthopedic injuries. One particularly tricky area is the knee. This 2-view knee series above is normal. Did you know that the sensitivity of picking up knee fractures is as low as 79% with a 2-view series and 85% with a 4-view series? With the advent of CT imaging, more and more subtle fractures are being found. [+]
Trick of the trade: Minimizing post-LP headache
Have you ever performed a lumbar puncture (LP) in a patient, only to have them return the next day for new debilitating headaches? It’s worse when sitting up, and much improved when laying down. You hate adding more problems for the patient, put you are certain that s/he now has a post-LP headache. [+]