By Yanmen Yang, PharmD What is tranexamic acid? Tranexamic acid (TXA) is an antifibrinolytic agent approved by the Food and Drug Administration in December 1996 as an intravenous injection to reduce hemorrhage during tooth extractions and as an oral tablet in November 2009 for heavy menstrual cycles.1,2 Since then, Read more…
A 40 year-old man presents to your ED with ankle pain. He rolled his ankle while engaged in various slapstick shenanigans involving snow storms, public transportation, and an overweight man who at first seemed oafish and ignorant, but in the end showed himself to be emotionally intelligent, leading our patient to realize that it Read more…
It’s Friday night in Central Brooklyn, and it’s your 6th night shift in a row. It’s surprisingly quiet in the critical care/resuscitation unit, and that notification phone still hasn’t rung. Just when you sit down, corner deli coffee in hand, trying to figure out if it’s actually Friday or Saturday, Read more…
During a slow morning in the pediatric emergency department last week, I decided to pass the time scrolling through puppy pictures on behalf of National Puppy Day. By page 98,3457 of a Google image search for “puppies,” I imagine a dog barking on the other side of the ED. I Read more…
It is 4 AM in the morning and a 50 year-old male is next to be seen in the emergency department. You think to yourself, what can possibly compel this patient to leave the warm comforts of his bed to come to the ED in the dead of night? Chest pain? Belly pain and vomiting? Either way, you have your treatment algorithm ready in your head until he throws you a curveball. “Hey doc, I got these hiccups I just cannot get rid of…”
You’re sitting in the critical area when EMS bursts through the trauma bay doors with a 34 year-old male with PMH of asthma in respiratory distress. EMS alerts you that they’ve placed a line, started 1g of magnesium sulfate, given 10 mg of dexamethasone, and the patient is on his Read more…
Case: 44 year-old female gets wheeled into the critical care area in respiratory distress. Through gasping breaths of inspiratory stridor, she says this started one hour ago while at home, mentioning she was getting “aggravated” with her husband. Her husband endorses that this has happened before in similar situations. She Read more…
Have you ever given a patient a shot of ketorolac just because it’s “something they couldn’t take at home?” How about the use of a “therapeutic X-ray?” Placebos have been used by healers since the advent of medicine, likely far before being formally labeled “physician.” In the United States, there Read more…
A 25 year-old male is brought into the emergency room after an argument about whether Tom Brady is the “Greatest Of All Time” turned into fistacuffs. He is alert, oriented, slightly intoxicated, and has visible injuries including a black eye, a missing tooth, and abrasions throughout his arms and legs. You ask him how he is feeling. He flashes a toothy smile, raises his fist (revealing a few small cuts), and replies, “You should take a look at the other guy.” (more…)
A 72 year-old female presents to your ED for excruciating, “10/10” left leg pain. Patient states that the pain awoke her from sleep two days ago, but she never went to the ED because she hates doctors. She states she’s having trouble moving her left leg now, and family members noticed it Read more…