Emergency physicians frequently use procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA) to ensure a more comfortable procedure for both the patient and the physician. However, errors are also frequent. This article addresses the most frequent PSA errors them and provides solutions to improve patient care.
10 Procedural Sedation Errors in the Emergency Department Read More »
Many active adults are interesting in boosting their athletic performance with supplements. While there have been a few proven benefits, there are many drawbacks of these supplements that may actually impair performance and compromise health. This article reviews a number of supplements, their benefits, their drawbacks and their potential for toxic adverse effects.
A post filled with management pearls for atrial fibrillation. What are potential etiologies? What medications should you use, when should you use them, and what are potential problems with these medications? What about anticoagulation?
Management of Atrial Fibrillation: Do’s and Don’ts Read More »
Several agents, both legal and illegal, can cause significantly elevated heart rates. This article reviews the most common causes of drug-induced tachycardia. Diagnosis and management of these conditions are also discussed.
Toxicologic Tachycardias Read More »
The pediatric and gravid populations have special needs regarding imaging for abdominal pain. This article reviews the more common causes of abdominal pain in children and pregnant women and how to approach imaging in these populations.
Guidelines for Imaging: Abdominal Pain in the Pediatric and Gravid Populations Read More »
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?
Facial Nerve Blocks Read More »
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?
Blood cultures: when do they make a meaningful impact on clinical care? Read More »
Vasopressor use in patients with sepsis has been studied extensively, with many calling for early, peripheral vasopressors. What is the literature behind this, and are patient outcomes affected? This post examines the studies for vasopressors in sepsis and more.
Septic shock: Who should be treated with early pressors? Read More »
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.
Acute Visual Loss in the Emergency Department: Pearls and Pitfalls Read More »
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.
Emergency Department Flow: What works, what does not work, and how can we improve? Read More »
