FOAMed

Third degree, or complete, heart block indicates complete dissociation between the atria and the ventricles. It is a cardiac emergency that has numerous causes including primary cardiac, electrolyte and medication toxicity. It needs to be managed with emergent pacing, either trancutaneous or transvenous. This article describes complete heart block and its management.

The new, updated sepsis definitions have been released. What are the changes, and what should you know?

Weakness is a challenging chief complaint. Always consider the common etiologies such as urinary tract infections. However, debilitating spinal cord pathology and other rare causes of weakness should be ruled out in otherwise negative work ups.

Female abdominal pain possesses a large differential with several key diagnoses. Ovarian torsion is one such diagnosis. What are the keys in presentation, diagnosis, and management of ovarian torsion?

There is no individual sign or symptom that can reliably exclude appendicitis in any patient. Appendicitis should be considered one diagnosis among a large differential. Concerning cases with a negative CT should be considered for admission. Radiation should be limited in children. Treatment may include antibiotics along with surgery.

The LBB should not be used as a therapeutic intervention. Instead, spinal motion restriction should be practiced.

Discharging patients from the emergency department can be risky. This article reviews ways to improve the discharge process and patient safety.

What do you do with the sick, unstable PE patient? Management pearls for resuscitating the unstable patient with pulmonary embolism.

As with invasive procedures such as central venous catheterization, an important closing step of the discharge process is confirmation.

“Hey, do you remember that patient you saw…?” What are the pearls and pitfalls in your evaluation of bouncebacks?