This article is brief overview of the management of femur fractures in the emergency department. In general, femur fractures can be identified with x-ray. AP pelvis, hip and femur x-rays will be sufficient in most cases. Femur fractures can be categorized as proximal fractures and femoral shaft fractures. There are Read more…
It’s the usual ED shift, when you see the next patient listed to be seen with a chief complaint of “Mechanism of Injury: Cyclist struck”. As you rehearse ATLS while approaching the stretcher, you encounter a young male in his 30s laying in pain on the stretcher clutching his chest, Read more…
How does one get a nail bed injury? Distal phalanx injuries are the most common hand injury, particularly in children. These are often due to crush injuries also resulting in subungual hematomas and nail bed lacerations. If a subungual hematoma involves more than half the nail plate, there is a Read more…
It’s another day at your local university hospital. You’re nearing the end of your shift and wrapping up your cases. Your mind is already starting to wander with thoughts of what you’ll do on vacation. Suddenly, you hear some commotion stir through the ED — TRAUMA CODE to the hospital Read more…
Over the Memorial Day weekend, I was so bored I binge watched the Rocky anthology. My favorite movie of the anthology is Rocky IV, not just because of the way he boxed, but mostly because he may have single-handedly ended the Cold War with this speech. Who knew that many Read more…
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…
29 year-old male arrives as a trauma notification. EMS states patient had a single gunshot wound to the mid-chest with vitals as follows: HR 120, BP 90/50, RR 22, SpO2 95%. The patient is mumbling incoherently with spontaneous eye movements and is reacting to pain. As the trauma Read more…
A 20 year-old man with no PMH presents to the ED after skateboarding injury. He states he was skateboarding around a construction site when he felt a sharp object cut the back of his right leg. Vitals are within normal limits. References: Karadshes,M. Achilles Tendon Read more…
Tranexamic acid (TXA) is an antifibrinolytic drug that was first discovered nearly 60 years ago by two Japanese scientists. TXA has been used to mitigate blood loss in elective surgeries, hemophiliacs, post-partum hemorrhage, and most recently after major trauma1. Here in the Kings County blogosphere, we review the use of TXA for Read more…
An 88 yo M with history of HTN and CAD s/p stent on aspirin and Plavix is brought in by EMS after a fall. He states he was drinking tea in his chair last night and he fell asleep, fell out of the chair, hitting his right occiput on the Read more…