Tactical Medicine News Blog

As a bonus to Episode 20 on Atrial Fibrillation, we present here, Dr. Clare Atzema, a leading EM researcher in Atrial Fibrillation, telling her Best Case Ever related to Afib. What would you do if you needed to cardiovert a patient who was too obese to fit on an ED stretcher? Dr. Atzema, along with Dr. Nazanin Meshkat and Dr. Bryan Au, discuss the presentation, etiology, precipitants, management and disposition of Atrial Fibrillation in the Emergency Department. The pros and cons of rate vs rhythm control are debated, what you need to know about Afib medications, and the value of the Ottawa Aggressive Protocol discussed. The importance of appropriate anticoagulation is detailed, with a review of the CHADS-VASc score and whether to use anticogulants or ASA for stroke prevention for patients with Afib. We end off with a discussion on how to recognize and treat Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome in the setting of Atrial Fibrillation. [wpfilebase tag=file id=382 tpl=emc-play /] [wpfilebase tag=file id=383 tpl=emc-mp3 /] The post Best Case Ever 7: Atrial Fibrillation appeared first on Emergency Medicine Cases.

  In many cases of massive GI bleeding, airway control is essential. During endotracheal intubation, suction sometimes just isn’t adequate enough to allow to get a good view of the vocal cords. The pool of blood keeps re-accumulating faster than you can suction. You think you see an arytenoid, pointing you in the direction of the trachea, and so you slide the endotracheal tube in. Unfortunately, when you bag the patient, you realize that you are in the esophagus.  

Pediatric patients commonly are brought to the Emergency Department for a fever without a source. Management of these patients depends on the patient’s age. Today’s PV card focuses on the youngest age group: Birth-to-28 days.

“Ow, that burnnnnssss… ow! ow! ow! … zzzzzz… As many as 60% of patients report significant pain with the injection of IV propofol. Once a patient experiences pain, it’s too late to reverse it. Often all you can do is to tell them that the pain will subside in a few seconds. What can you do preemptively to minimize the pain of propofol injection?

Open fractures come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes fractures create only a small, innocuous-looking puncture through the skin. Other times they look grossly contaminated with organic material and have significant soft tissue injury. The major concern is wound infection. Prophylactic antibiotics are essential in the ED. Typically antibiotics are first-generation cephalosporins. When do you start adding more coverage with high-dose penicillin or aminoglycosides?