wendyrollerblades
Senior EM Resident at SUNY Downstate / Kings County Hospital, EM/Critical Care Blogger, Medical Student Education Curriculum Co-Chair, has a blackbelt in “keepin’ it real”
EM-Critical Care Hematology/Oncology Immune/Inflammatory
Treatment of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation
Presented by: Dr. Andrew Nguyen Summarized by: Dr. Wendy Chan Reviewed by: Dr. Ian deSouza The Fictitious Case: 81 y/o F with PMH HTN, DM, CVA, afib, CAD, and recent hospitalization presents with 1 week of generalized weakness, nausea w/o vomiting, and pain to left toes with swelling and discoloration. Read more…
EM-Critical Care Immune/Inflammatory
A History of the Sepsis Trials
This month’s critical care mini-fellowship discussion was about the article, “Timing of Vasopressors in Septic Shock” as well as a review of the recent PROCESS, ARISE and PROMISE trials. Overall mortality rates in septic shock improved significantly from the 1990s to 2012 which coincides with several changes of practice including the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Read more…
Evidence-Based Medicine
TASER-Conducted Electrical Weapon Injuries
The 3 following cases present to your ER. What should you do? -A 35 YOM no PMH with a TASER electrode in the eyelid and another to his chest wall, denies chest pain, normal VS -A 40 YOM PMH polysubstance abuse and schizophrenia who was tasered once to the Read more…
Evidence-Based Medicine
Racially Biased Pain Control in the ED: Is it a real thing?
Racial disparities in medical care exist. Did you know that you are more likely to receive a cardiac catheterization when you have chest pain with EKG abnormalities if you are white?[1] Or that if you are a minority, you are less likely to receive appropriate analgesia for long-bone fractures, cancer, Read more…
Evidence-Based Medicine
Cyra Whaa?!: Cautionary Tales About ER Folks Who Didn’t Use Skilled Translators
We know using skilled translators has many benefits such as improving patient outcomes, satisfaction, pain control, and number of medical errors (see sidebar below). In the United States, healthcare providers have increasingly been encountering patients who have limited English proficiency (LEP), with 15% of people reporting they spoke English “not Read more…
Evidence-Based Medicine Obstetrics/Gynecology
Are NSAIDs really bad in pregnancy? The answer is usually no
With anywhere from 15-25% of pregnancies naturally terminating prior to the end of the first trimester, spontaneous abortions are common1. We frequently see UCG+ patients with vaginal bleeding and pain present to our ER. During my Gyn Sono rotation, I noticed that both the attending and I would reflexively want Read more…