Seeking Pleasure, Suffering Pain Chief Complaint: Abdominal Pain HPI: 21-year-old male presenting to the emergency department after placing a glass mason jar in his rectum 3 days ago, this was done for self-pleasure and experimentation. States that yesterday he tried having a bowel movement after taking stool softener and MiraLAX, reportedly resulted in a normal…
Read MoreContributor: Jared Scott, MD Educational Pearls: Suicide is currently the 10th leading cause of death in the US Low quality studies have reported ketamine as a potential promising agent in treating depression and preventing suicidal ideations or thoughts Randomized study was performed looking at giving ketamine to depressed patients in the ED to see if…
Read MoreContributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Hand raising test: a simple but effective tool to diagnose carpal tunnel Patients hold their hands over their head and if symptoms of carpal tunnel develop within 2 minutes, it is considered positive, meaning they likely have carpel tunnel Symptom included numbness and dull pain in the distribution of…
Read MoreMeet Adis Keric, Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist and a Board Certified Critical Care pharmacist who works in the Emergency Department and ICU of level 1 trauma center Regions Hospital in Saint Paul, MN. Adis is the founder and host of a new FOAMed podcast, ER-Rx. He started the podcast to inform clinicians in the ED…
Read MoreContributor: Michael Hunt, MD Educational Pearls: Contrast agents are commonly used for X-rays and CT’s to better characterize disease, but contrast doesn’t work with MRI. That’s where the element Gadolinium comes into play. Gadolinium, element 64, is ferromagnetic (attracted to iron) below 68 degrees and above that temperature it’s paramagnetic which makes it useful in…
Read MoreContributor: Don Stader, MD Educational Pearls: Altered mental status/confusion are major symptoms associated with both alcohol use and withdrawal. Wernicke’s encephalopathy is a triad of symptoms of confusion, internuclear ophthalmoplegia, and confabulation The treatment for Wernicke’s is IV thiamine or vitamin B1 Untreated Wernicke’s leads to Korsakoff’s syndrome where a prolonged thiamine deficiency leads to…
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Meet Michelle Whaley, Clinical Nurse Specialist and Stroke Program Coordinator at Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, Colorado. Jordan and Michelle discuss advances in Artificial Intelligence technology in an app that uses algorithms to analyze CT Angiograms to alert physicians of patients with images concerning for Large Vessel Occlusions (LVOs). Listen as they discuss…
Read MoreContributor: Michael Hunt, MD Educational Pearls: PPE, or personal protective equipment, has become a major talking point since the emergence of the novel coronavirus (COVID 19). While ubiquitous now, there was not always equipment to protect health care providers or patients from infectious exposures. The invention of surgical gloves are credited to surgeon William Halsted….
Read MoreContributor: Don Stader, MD Educational Pearls: Yersinia Pestis is the bacteria that caused the black plague. It was first discovered to be the cause of the bubonic plague in 1800s in China during the 3rd bubonic plague where 10-20 million people died Causes 3 types of plague: Bubonic plague: characterized by severe swelling of lymph…
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A Rare Package Delivery Chief Complaint: Can we get a doctor? HPI: 37-year-old female presents to the ED. Triage nurse announces on the overhead paging system for a doctor to an acute room. In the background, a woman screaming is heard. Due to the acuity of the clinical picture, no further history is obtained. Pertinent…
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