Grand Rounds Recap 10.26

Grand Rounds Recap 10.26

We had another great week at Grand Rounds to wrap up the month of October.  Dr. Betham ran the gamut of medical knowledge in her M&M, teaching us from organophosphate poisoning to rhabdomyolysis.  Drs. Merriam and Curry battled in a CPC about submassive and massive PE.  Dr. Shewakramani taught us about all things dental and Dr. Scupp brought it home with his soapbox about the importance of balance in IV fluid resuscitation.

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Crash and Burn Part 2 - Approach to the MVC Patient

Crash and Burn Part 2 - Approach to the MVC Patient

We’re back again this week to discuss more about the initial approach to the MVC patient in B-pod.  Last week we discussed occult bowel injury in the setting of blunt abdominal trauma.  In the second episode of this topic, Dr. Powell also highlights the importance of an appropriate pain medication selection upon discharge from the emergency department, citing the importance to consciously avoid cavalier prescription of potentially habit-forming pain medications.  But what kind of risk is involved when we send patients home with opioid prescriptions?  Are they destined to seek out more?

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Crash and Burn: The Approach to the MVC Patient

Crash and Burn: The Approach to the MVC Patient

Certain pathology gets a lot of attention in medical school.  Stroke? Sure!  Tests love asking about which vessel is blocked based on clues from the physical exam.  And rightly so; a fund of medical knowledge is certainly valuable when it comes to identifying pathology such as this.  However, when faced with a problem like blunt trauma, i.e. the “MVC”, one may find that there are also many practical and logistical factors that require bedside experience, ranging from marshaling of resources to reconciling patient presentation with reported mechanism of injury...

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Grand Rounds Recap 10.5.2016

Grand Rounds Recap 10.5.2016

This week we had a Grand Rounds jam packed with clinical knowledge. When was the last time you considered the differential diagnosis of an elevated troponin? It's not just ACS! Read on to learn more about thyroid storm, refractory Vfib and Vtach, lithium toxicity, inflammatory markers, and more. As well as a special clinical soapbox about how Ohio became the epicenter of the nation's heroin epidemic.

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Anti-Arrhythmics - What Good Are They?

Anti-Arrhythmics - What Good Are They?

Last week we had our first Journal Club of the year and had an excellent discussion of the evidence surrounding the use of amiodarone, lidocaine, and procainamide for ventricular dysrhythmias.  Take a listen to the podcast below and read up on the details of the papers below that!

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ESR, CRP, & Procalcitonin: Acute Inflammatory Markers in the ED

ESR, CRP, & Procalcitonin: Acute Inflammatory Markers in the ED

Working in the ED one day you seem to hit a run of patients in whom consultants have asked you to order an ESR, CRP.  First, podiatry asked for them for a patient with 1st metatarsal osteomyelitis.  Spine surgery wanted the same for a patient with diskitis. And, ortho wanted them for a possible septic.  You think to yourself, “what am I or my consultant going to do with these test results?” “What are these inflammatory markers anyhow?” And, “what patient’s should I be ordering them in.”

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Grand Rounds Recap 9.28.2016

Grand Rounds Recap 9.28.2016

Dr. Axelson kicked off Grand Rounds this week with a look at DKA, hypercalcemia, suicide in the ED and more during M&M. Then we learned about Hereditary Angioedema, Thyroid Emergencies, Concussions, NIPPV and got a chalk talk about setting end goals of resuscitation from Dr. Dave Norton.  

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Grand Rounds Recap 9.21.2016

Grand Rounds Recap 9.21.2016

This week we learned about all the hardware that can go into our patient's CNS and how it can go wrong. We also heard about complications of Varicella infection, set out to optimize visualization of a needle on US, learned to give better feedback to the difficult learner, heard about ED super-utilizers and strategized about ventilator management. 

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Airways, like Martinis, are Best "Dry"

Airways, like Martinis, are Best "Dry"

Have you ever looked down the blade of a laryngoscope and said to yourself, “Damn!  This airway is just too dry!”  I thought not.  Rather, we often look down the blade into a mucky swamp of secretions that drip from the pharyngeal walls like drool from a big, sloppy dog, and often obscure familiar landmarks and goop-up our optical and video adjuncts.  Is there no solution?  There is!  Let us review an illustrative case...

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Grand Rounds Recap 9/14

Grand Rounds Recap 9/14

This week we had a special visit from Dr. Darren Braude from the University of New Mexico Department of Emergency Medicine to speak on special topics in airway management. He introduced us to the idea of Rapid Sequence Airway (RSA) and other novel thoughts on extraglottic devices.  We then had a chance to dive in to our regularly scheduled program with topics ranging from tuberculosis to ED operations to complex febrile seizure.  Enjoy!

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