The “pink lady” or “GI cocktail”, a combination of an antacid and viscous lidocaine, is both much loved and much hated in emergency medicine. Some practitioners use it as a matter of routine. Others warn against it, for fear that it can lead to misdiagnosis in the setting of MI. […]
Last week, I discussed the reasons that I believe that tramadol is a bad drug that shouldn’t be prescribed. This week, I will tackle a similarly bad drug: codeine. The argument is essentially the same. Tramadol may be moderately worse, because of the added SNRI effects, but the variable effects […]
I have never prescribed tramadol. I was taught that, for a variety of reasons, it’s an awful drug. In Canada, everyone seemed to agree. But then I moved to New Zealand.
Status epilepticus is associated with a high degree of morbidity and mortality. Approximately ⅓ of patients have long term neurologic sequela, and mortality is 3-5%. (Chin 2006; Raspall-Chaure 2006) First line treatment is with benzodiazepines, but benzos will fail approximately 30-40% of the time. (Appleton 2008) Therefore, an effective second […]
I had the honour of being part of the final SMACC conference, as one of a series of people interviewed for a segment entitled “Pacific Island Playlist”. In preparation, I was asked to consider one piece of advice for the audience. My advice: be curious. Originally, I was thinking mostly […]
The AHA released an incredible scientific statement that goes through a ton of information on the use of education in improving outcomes from cardiac arrest. Really, the stuff they are discussing here applies to all of medical education, and anyone involved in teaching should probably read it. However, it is […]
I have ranted previously about my concern that sucrose, despite its widespread use in pediatrics, is not actually a pain medication. I repeated that rant this week as part of the SMACCmini pre-conference day. However, it is always frustrating when people point out problems without offering solutions. This blog post […]