EM Principles Wilderness Medicine
Climbing Kilimanjaro: The Stages of Altitude Sickness and their Treatment
With the election circus coming to an end, you realize you need a little diversion to recover. What better way to do distract yourself than with a little hiking? You grab your gear, book a ticket to Tanzania, and the next thing you know you’re standing at the base of Read more…
Evidence-Based Medicine Immune/Inflammatory Infectious Disease
Cellulitis – Observe, Admit, or Discharge?
Cellulitis is commonly diagnosed and treated in the Emergency Department ED) with considerable variation in treatment and disposition patterns. These patients may be: Given a dose of intravenous (IV) antibiotics before discharge home Placed in observation unit for IV antibiotics before transitioning to oral medications prior to discharge Discharged with Read more…
Rhythm Nation - ECG
Rhythm Nation: November 2016
Faithful Bloggers! Rhythm Nation returns for another installment of critical analysis of the interesting ECGs from Kings County. Batter up! 63F h/o HTN, HL, DM, CAD, AFib (warfarin) CHF (EF 35%) presents to King’s County for “high blood pressure”. Lucky for you, the patient brings a large bag of all Read more…
Cardiovascular EM Principles Obstetrics/Gynecology
Swelling Up from Head to Toe: Postpartum Cardiomyopathy
It’s 4 AM. CCT is empty. You are doing uWorld questions for your upcoming Step 3. As you are about to drink your warm, cheap coffee, the triage nurse rolls in a 39-year-old female with no significant PMH who is complaining of shortness of breath. The patient notes worsening dyspnea Read more…
Pulmonology
Discharge that pneumothorax!
Last month we discussed the use of needle aspiration as an alternative to placing a traditional large-bore chest tube in patients with spontaneous pneumothoraces. One of the selling points of using these less invasive methods is that they decrease the amount of time these patients spend in the hospital. In fact, Read more…
Case of the Month
Case of the Month 15: Contrast-induced Nephropathy
To sum up the case: A 44 year-old female presented to the emergency department with 3 days of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and left lower quadrant pain. She has a history of diabetes and stage 3 CKD and is taking metformin and enalapril. On exam, she is found to be tachycardic Read more…
Ultrasound and Radiology
Clinical CT – October 2016
Written by Adam Blumenberg MD Special Thanks to Mark Silverberg MD A 54 year-old woman with a history of cigarette smoking and uncontrolled hypertension presents to the ED disoriented and mumbling incomprehensible words. Her family members say she began acting strangely about 20 minutes after complaining of severe headache. Her Read more…
Ultrasound and Radiology
Clinical CT – August 2016
Clinical CT for August 2016 by Adam Blumenberg MD A 75 year-old woman with a history of left femur ORIF and hypertension was “clipped” on the left knee by a turning car as she was crossing the street. She is dressed in religious garb with a head scarf and long Read more…
Endocrinology Hematology/Oncology
ED Management of Hypercalcemia of Malignancy
ED Management of Hypercalcemia of Malignancy Hypercalcemia in the ED is often times an incidental finding. The clinical presentation, management and treatment of hypercalcemia as it specifically relates to malignancy will be discussed here. Workup of hypercalcemia When considering the diagnosis of hypercalcemia, it is important to understand calcium’s distribution Read more…