FOAMed

The patient with facial pain/injury can present significant challenges for analgesia. Facial nerve blocks present an avenue for great analgesia without compromising wound appearance/repair. What are the pearls and pitfalls for these blocks?

Bacteremia affects 200,000 patients per year, with the potential of causing significant mortality. Blood cultures are considered the most sensitive method for detecting bacteremia and are commonly obtained in patients with fever, chills, leukocytosis, focal infections, sepsis, or suspected endocarditis. However, what is the literature behind obtaining cultures in the ED?

Acute vision loss has a wide differential, and some of these conditions can cause permanent visual deficit. Many of these are time-sensitive, and the emergency physician may improve patient outcome through the consideration of several acute conditions. This post seeks to provide an overview of the evaluation of vision loss in the ED and a summary of several common conditions.

Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is an issue that not only impacts the ED but impacts nearly all aspects of a hospital system. The ED is the location in the hospital that feels the greatest stress from capacity issues hospital-wide. Emergency providers are uniquely positioned to have a great impact in flow improvement initiatives and this article reviews some of the problems with overcrowding and how to improve patient flow through the ED.

A time-sensitive diagnosis: testicular torsion. This review evaluates the clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of testicular torsion, providing an evidence-based update for emergency providers.

The transient ischemic attack (TIA) places patients at high risk for future stroke. This article reviews the current literature on the diagnosis, management and disposition of patients with TIA. The use of observation and TIA clinics is also discussed.

How can you decrease the risk of the peri- and post-intubation patient decompensation? This post is filled with pearls that you need to know!

Hand and digital wound bleeding should be managed with hemorrhage control, an adequate exam and proper treatment. There are many tools to help manage bleeding and allow for an adequate exam. Using a topical analgesic such as lidocaine, can be helpful with pain control. The addition of epinephrine to a topical analgesic in hand and digital wounds may not be as scary as once thought and may be considered to help with hemorrhage control in certain wounds.

Dizziness is a common chief complaint with a large differential ranging from benign to a life-threatening bleed. How should you approach the patient with dizziness, and what do you need to consider?