A 46-year-old female presents to your ED with a complaint of abdominal pain and fullness for several weeks and a family history of "blood clots". Could this be Budd Chiari syndrome?
A 37-year-old trauma patient, involved in a motor vehicle collision six hours prior to arrival and stabilized at a county hospital, is transferred to your ED. A nurse notes blood oozing from the man's central and peripheral lines. What laboratory studies do you order? If you're in need of a refresher, take a look at this week's review of disseminated intravascular coagulation.
This post provides key pearls and pitfalls in the evaluation and management of hemochromatosis.
What should you consider with erythrocytosis? This post provides pearls and pitfalls in the evaluation and management of erythrocytosis.
Transfusions can be life-saving, with the need for transfusion based on the indication, the patient, and the situation. Transfusion reactions, though rare, can be deadly. What do you need to know about these reactions? Read on to find out.
Welcome to EM@3AM: Let's review a cause of significant morbidity and mortality in sickle cell patients.
Thrombocytosis can be related to a variety of diseases, with a range of presentations. What do you need to know in the ED about this condition?
Thromboelastography is a mechanism of assessing coagulation based upon the viscoelastic properties of whole blood, and when compared to other coagulation assessments, this test allows for an assessment of near real-time, in-vivo clotting capacity. The point-of-care assay, which uses graphic interpretation of thromboelastography (the TEG), offers the opportunity for an expedited assessment of coagulopathies (thrombocytopenia, factor deficiency, heparin effect, hypofibrinogenemia, and hyperfibrinolysis). How can you use this modality in the ED? This post is full of pearls on interpreting TEG.
