I am not sure which I prescribe more often each shift: analgesics or antiemetics. Despite having medical directives for both, I am still interrupted multiple times every hour with requests to chart one or the other. To be fair, I am never bothered. Nausea and vomiting are horrible symptoms, and […]
In the Rapid Review series, I briefly review the key points of a clinical review paper. (Well, this time it is a combination of 2 papers. The topic: DRESS syndrome (drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms).
It’s time for another edition of the research round up and BroomeDocs journal club – a collection of the most interesting emergency medicine research I have encountered in the last few months. This time around we have (of course) CRASH 3, some articles on laceration repair, improving the ED experience […]
By now, I think everyone has heard of the test threshold. It is most often discussed in the context of the workup for pulmonary embolism. (I think it is an important concept that we probably need to employ more widely in emergency medicine, but that is the topic of a […]
Since publishing my 5 part series illustrating that stress tests are useless (also available as an EM Cases Journal Jam Episode and on EM:RAP), I have received a number of requests to review coronary CT angiography (CCTA). After all, stress testing is old technology. CCTA is newer and therefore obviously […]
TXA has been the darling drug of emergency medicine and critical care since the publication of the CRASH 2 trial back in 2010. CRASH 2 demonstrated a 1.5% decrease in mortality when TXA was given to trauma patients with significant bleeding. (CRASH 2 2010) These results led to the widespread […]
In the Rapid Review series, I briefly review the key points of a clinical review paper. The topic this time: Leptospirosis
You can’t interpret the results of a test without knowing the pretest probability. I am sure we have all heard the same lecture about screening tests. I am sure that we have all been surprised by the strange numbers that result from applying seemingly excellent tests in low risk populations. […]
It’s time for another deep dive into the medical literature, this time looking at the evidence for heparin (or any anticoagulant) in the setting of STEMI and PCI. I have previously outlined the evidence that indicates that heparin shouldn’t be used (is harmful) in unstable angina and NSTEMI. However, that […]