Unlocking the MIC-KEY: Understanding and Troubleshooting Low-Profile Gastrostomy Tubes
You are working an overnight clinical shift at your community emergency department when a worried mother brings in her 15-year-old child with cerebral palsy due to their gastric tube “coming out.” As you begin to obtain a history of the patient’s gastric tube (when it was placed, where it was placed, why is it in place, etc.) you realize you will be the one replacing it tonight, and frankly you haven’t done this before. The following post serves as a refresher on the use, placement, and complications of gastrostomy tubes. [+]
How I Stay Healthy in EM: Christian Rose
We would be remiss to not acknowledge the unique challenges we as emergency providers have faced over the last few months. Prevention of burnout and active wellness management is more important now than ever. This month on our “How I stay Healthy” series, we’re featuring Dr. Christian Rose, clinical informatics fellow at Stanford University and staff physician at Kaiser Permanente. He shares some guiding principles when facing difficult clinical decisions, his belief in the power of connection, and his favorite noise machine! [+]
SplintER Series: Hip Pain Following an MVC
A 48-year-old female presents to the emergency department after a high-speed motor vehicle collision (MVC). She is complaining of left hip pain. Her radiographs are shown (Image 1 courtesy of Dr Ayaz Hidayatov, Radiopaedia.org, rID: 52760). What is your diagnosis? What is the likely mechanism of injury? What physical exam findings are expected? What is your management in the emergency department and when should you consult orthopedics? [+]
SAEM Clinical Image Series: The Cocaine Gut
A sixty-five-year-old male with a medical history of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), hypertension, alcohol dependence, homelessness, and cocaine abuse presents to the emergency department with abdominal pain for three days. The patient describes his abdominal pain as knife-like, 9/10, located diffusely throughout his abdomen, with associated anorexia and nausea. He reports that he had one episode of coffee ground emesis this morning which provoked him to come to the ED. He reports frequent cocaine use with his last use three days ago. He endorses subjective fevers, chills, and no bowel movement for two days. He [+]
SAEM Clinical Image Series: Severe Cutaneous Lesions in an Immunocompromised Host
A thirty-one-year-old female presented to the emergency department with the complaint of a painful rash for 2 days. She has a history of HIV with a known CD4 count < 200 cells/µL. She states that the rash began two days ago and progressed to the current size. She describes the rash as burning and has never experienced these symptoms before. She has tried topical corticosteroids which did not alleviate the pain. [+]
HOT OFF THE PRESS: Free ALiEM MEdIC Series Book – Volume 5
This is a bittersweet moment for the MEdIC Editorial team – the launch of our 5th and final volume of our Medical Education in Cases ebook. We are very excited to showcase the compilation of our final season and hope that it serves you well as you all look to expand your online learning and teaching resources during this incredible time in medical history. We hope that you, your colleagues, and the greater FOAMed community enjoy this collaborative collection of high-quality cases and curated online commentary centered on educational, ethical, and professionalism-based quandaries. Your support, contributions, and enthusiasm for the [+]
SplintER Series: Elbow Injury
A 70-year-old female presents with left elbow pain and deformity after falling on an outstretched hand. You obtain shoulder x-rays and see the above images. What is the most likely diagnosis, likely mechanism of injury, expected physical exam findings, and management plan? (Image 1: AP and lateral views of the left elbow. Author’s own images) [+]
Victor Huang, MD
SAEM Clinical Image Series: Found Down with Altered Mental Status
A forty-nine-year-old male with a history of polysubstance abuse, including methamphetamine and intravenous (IV) drug use, rectal cancer, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was brought into the emergency department by emergency medical services (EMS) after he was found down at the bottom of a flight of stairs by his roommate. In the emergency room, he was found to have a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 7 and was intubated for airway protection. Non-contrast head CT was performed. Per the roommate, the patient had been “not himself,” exhibiting strange behavior and weight loss. History and [+]
ALiEM AIR | Renal/Genitourinary 2020 Module
Welcome to the AIR Renal/Genitourinary Module! After carefully reviewing all relevant posts from the top 50 sites of the Social Media Index, the ALiEM AIR Team is proud to present the highest quality online content related to renal and genitourinary emergencies. 6 blog posts within the past 12 months (as of May 2020) met our standard of online excellence and were curated and approved for residency training by the AIR Series Board. We identified 1 AIR and 5 Honorable Mentions. We recommend programs give 3 hours (about 30 minutes per article) of III credit for this module. AIR Stamp of [+]
SplintER Series: Finger pain
A 45-year-old male presents to the emergency department (ED) with right hand pain after an e-bike accident. Physical exam shows deformity and tenderness at the 5th proximal phalanx. Radiographs are shown above (Image 1: Plain radiography of right hand with AP and oblique views. Author’s own images). What is the most likely diagnosis? What are the important aspects of the associated physical examination? What is the management in ED, including pain management? When do you consult orthopedics? [+]