Trick of the Trade: Style points in pediatric orthopedics

With this hot summer season in California, kids have been running around and getting into all sorts of orthopedic troubles. Monkey bars are a common culprit. In treating pediatric patients in the ED, it’s worth spending an extra few minutes on the subtle style points.

Trick of the Trade:

Splint the buddy bear

You should consider keeping a stash of stuffed teddy bears in the ED for those patients, whom you splint or cast. It is a nice touch to have the patient go home with a teddy bear with the same “injury” and splint/cast.

It’s the little touches that will make your patient’s day a little less sucky.

By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-02-04T03:00:51-08:00Sep 23, 2009|Orthopedic, Pediatrics, Tricks of the Trade|

Wound care mantra: “The key to pollution is dilution.”

High-pressure irrigation best reduces the patient’s risk for a wound infection. Open fractures are unique in the ED in that they require quick, high-volume irrigation before going to the operating room for more definitive wash-out. Often times a 30 mL syringe and 18-gauge angiocatheter is too cumbersome and slow for high-volume, high-pressure irrigation.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-01-28T23:53:51-08:00Sep 16, 2009|Tricks of the Trade|

Trick of the Trade: Peritonsillar abscess needle aspiration

peritonsillar abscess

How do you drain a peritonsillar abscess?

When evaluating a patient with a sore throat and “hot potato voice,” peritonsillar abscess (PTA) is at the top of the differential diagnosis list. As with all abscesses, the definitive treatment involves drainage of pus. This can be done either by incision and drainage or, more commonly, by needle aspiration.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-07-02T20:50:17-07:00Sep 9, 2009|ENT, Tricks of the Trade|

Trick of the Trade: Hair apposition technique (HAT trick)

Scalp lacerations over hair-bearing areas require wound closure, usually with staples. An alternative technique is the Hair Apposition Technique, also known as the HAT trick [1, 2]. This technique provides a more cost-effective, faster, and less painful approach to scalp laceration repair. Imagine the scalp hairs as suture ties already embedded in the skin.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-11-29T19:02:25-08:00Sep 2, 2009|Tricks of the Trade|

Trick of the Trade: Needle thoracostomy

On a shift last week, we had a patient present with a spontaneous pneumothorax. Not only that, but it was a tension pneumothorax. Although the patient was hemodynamically stable, he was very uncomfortable and really short of breath. To give us more time to prepare for the chest tube, it was decided to perform a needle thoracostomy.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-10-26T17:05:43-07:00Aug 12, 2009|Tricks of the Trade|

Sneak Peak "Trick of the Trade": Digital nerve block

The digital nerve block is common performed in the Emergency Department to provide anesthesia prior to wound closure. The digital nerves are typically accessed by injecting in the webspace on either side of the finger.

Have you had patients start to get sweaty and anxious merely at the sight of your drawing up lidocaine in the syringe? Despite your reassurance that the 18-gauge needle that you used was just to move the lidocaine into the syringe and that you’ll be using a small needle for the procedure, they don’t look very reassured. Trust is key to having the procedure go smoothly.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2016-10-26T17:05:43-07:00Aug 5, 2009|Tricks of the Trade|

Article review: Propofol (2007 ACEP Guideline)

Given all the recent brouhaha around propofol and Michael Jackson, I thought I would review the 2007 Annals of EM Clinical Practice Advisory paper on the use of propofol in the Emergency Department for procedural sedation. This is one of the 2009 Lifelong Learning Self-Assessment (LLSA) articles. Each year EM-board certified physicians are tested on 20 pre-selected LLSA articles to maintain eligibility for re-certification.