Category Name: practice updates

perspectives

Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Sit on the qSOFA: A pathophysiologic approach to qSOFA

The last few months have seen an enormous amount of controversy in the press, in the FOAMsphere, and in our ED hallways regarding the new consensus sepsis definition. The goal of this post is not to rehash the strengths and weaknesses of Sepsis 3, but rather to explore the pathophysiologic basis of ...

practice updates

Commonly Missed Findings on CT Abdomen/Pelvis

CT: the donut of truth. Most physicians breathe a little easier sending a patient home with a negative CT abdomen/pelvis. However, the power of x-ray vision doesn’t allow us to turn off our brains. Certain pathologies may have only subtle findings on CT, and others may lend themselves better to...

practice updates

Abdominal Vascular Graft Complications

As trainees I think it is beaten into our heads that all males over the age of 50 with new onset hematuria and flank pain should also be screened for AAA. One thing that is not so much beaten into our heads is how we still have to take hematuria and or hematochezia seriously in these same patients e...

practice updates

BNP Level in the Emergency Department: Does it Change Management?

BNP (Brain Natriuretic Peptide) is a commonly used biomarker for detecting heart failure in the emergency department. It's levels can be affected by various extraneous factors such as obesity and renal failure. This article reviews the potential uses of BNP, including its pros and cons, in the emergency department.

practice updates

Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy: EM management

The pregnant patient with nausea and vomiting is something most providers want to avoid. A wide range of conditions can cause these symptoms in the pregnant patient, and these conditions can range from the benign morning sickness to life-threatening preeclampsia and acute fatty liver of pregnancy. What can you do to manage these patients while diagnosing severe disease?

practice updates

The Difficult Airway: Common Errors During Intubation

Airway management is a vital component to caring for critically-ill patients in the emergency department. The peri-intubation time can be chaotic. Planning for the difficult airway and preparing for all possible scenarios is best done before the arrival of a crashing patient. The following post expl...