Emergency Medical Minute

Contributor: Jared Scott, MD Educational Pearls: Physicians are typically advised not to trust computer interpretation of ECGs  Retrospective study was done of computer interpreted normal ECGs to evaluate the accuracy of such an interpretation 989 ECGs were interpreted as "Normal sinus rhythm, Normal ECG" by proprietary cardiology software on MUSE Cardiology Information System These EKGs received...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Patients with recurrent ascites may need frequent outpatient or emergency department paracentesis which can be time consuming and uncomfortable for patients.  Tunneled peritoneal catheters are a permanent alternative therapy which allows fluid drainage at home by patient or caregiver.  There has been theoretical concern that long term placement of...

Contributor: Peter Bakes, MD Educational Pearls: Tachycardia describes a heart rate of >120 beats per minute Wide Complex describes a QRS duration of >120 ms or 3 small boxes on a standard EKG The major differential for a wide complex tachycardia is Ventricular Tachycardia (VT), aka "V Tach", or Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) with Aberrancy   SVT alone is a narrow complex tachycardia, but as r...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Awareness with recall of paralysis can occur in intubated and ventilated patients receiving paralytic medications   Patients who suffer from this effect are at high risk of developing severe PTSD, depression, and suicidal ideations Occurs in approximately 0.1-0.2% of patients undergoing general anesthesia in an OR setting 2021 study showed patients...

Selected audio from our event, Palliative, hosted on June 27, 2022 in conjunction with Children's Hospital Colorado's Department of Palliative Medicine and The Denver Hospice's Footprints Program . Keynote address by Dr. Nadia Tremonti, pediatric palliative care physician at Children's Hospital of Michigan Expert Panel composed of Dr. Kimberly Bennett, medical director for TDH's Footprints Program...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Intranasal medication administration is a convenient, quick, and relatively painless option for pediatric patients Often used as an initial medication to help control pain in children prior to establishing an IV Using an atomizer is preferred when administering intranasal medications The syringe should be angled towards the ipsilateral eye or occip...

In this second episode of a two-part mini-series, we feature Dr. Nadia Haddad, a Colorado psychiatrist, and Dr. Ricky Dhaliwal, an emergency medicine physician, as they discuss the various treatment modalities for substance-induced psychosis. They explore pharmacologic treatments, inpatient and outpatient treatments, and ways that emergency providers can improve their care for psychiatric patients...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: There are two common options for push-dose vasopressor: phenylephrine and epinephrine. Both have been studied in the setting of the OR, but are lacking data in emergency room utilization.  A recent retrospective study at one hospital compared the two options for effectiveness and safety. The data showed phenylephrine raised systolic pressure an ave...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: A recent study evaluated the association between the degree of fever and mortality rate in patients presenting to a set of Emergency Departments in Israel Febrile patients with a temperature > 38.0 C were recorded and these patients were compared against local death records to determine the all-cause 30-day mortality rate 8.1% of patients evaluated...

Contributor: Peter Bakes, MD Educational Pearls: Patients in renal failure may have elevated serum potassium levels which can result in EKG changes.   EKG changes in the setting of hyperkalemia generally depend on the serum level. Mild elevation may cause peaked T waves. At higher serum levels there will be loss of P waves plus wide complex tachycardia. There can be progression to fatal arrhythmia...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Prior, smaller studies showed intravenous Vitamin C given to patients with sepsis significantly improved patient mortality and additional outcomes.  A recently published, randomized control trial with >800 ICU patients who received up to 4 days of IV Vit C or placebo concluded that the end points of death or persistent organ dysfunction at 28 days...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Septic shock management has traditionally endorsed rapid fluid resuscitation and the administration of vasopressors Current guidelines are for patients to initially receive a 30 ml/kg fluid bolus then additional fluid as needed for continued hypotension The ideal volume of fluid needed to maximize patient outcomes has been debated A recent ICU-base...

Contributor: Peter Bakes, MD Educational Pearls: Lithium remains a commonly used medication for treating bipolar disorder Lithium toxicity can be acute, acute-on-chronic, or chronic   Measuring blood lithium level Therapeutic range of lithium is around 1.6-1.8 mEq/L >2 mEq/L is likely to cause significant toxicity >4 mEq/L necessitates lifesaving treatment The lethal dose of lithium is 700 mg/kg L...

Contributor: Peter Bakes, MD Educational Pearls: When intubating a patient, it is important to consider what medications will be used for post-intubation sedation and analgesia The common non-benzodiazepine sedating medications are propofol, precedex, and ketamine Propofol is frequently used in the emergency department, and it lowers ICP and MAP making it the preferred sedative for patients with i...

Contributor: Jarod Scott, MD Educational Pearls: Rectal prolapse is an evagination of the rectal tissue through the anal opening Factors that weaken the pelvic floor muscles increase the risk of rectal prolapse These include age > 40, female, multiple pregnancies, constipation, diarrhea, cystic fibrosis, prior pelvic floor surgeries, or other pelvic floor abnormalities Noninvasive treatment option...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar State (HHS) is less common than Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) but is associated with a mortality rate up to 10 times greater than that seen in DKA Typically seen in elderly patients with severely elevated blood glucose levels (>1000 mg/dL) and an increased plasma osmolality Unlike in DKA, patients with HHS do not have eleva...

The Emergency Medical Minute is excited to announce that we our upcoming event, Palliative. Check out our event page for more information and to buy tickets: Palliative Eventbrite Page

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: NSAIDs are a potential alternative to opioids for pain management and are associated with decreased rates of adverse effects A recent study evaluated the effectiveness of ibuprofen and oxycodone for pain management in pediatric patients with isolated, acute-limb fractures Participants were discharged home with either ibuprofen or oxycodone and foll...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD  Educational Pearls: Direct Oral Anticoagulants (DOACs) have surpassed Warfarin and Lovenox® for anticoagulation as they do not require injection and allow for easier discharge. In the ED, they are commonly prescribed after PE or DVT diagnosis.  Common DOACs are Apixaban (Eliquis®) and Rivaroxaban (Xarelto®). There has not been a direct head to head study comparing ou...

Substance-Induced Psychosis (Part I)   In this first episode of a two-part mini-series, we feature Dr. Nadia Haddad, a Colorado psychiatrist, and Dr. Ricky Dhaliwal, an emergency medicine physician, as they discuss the different substances that cause psychosis and their unique presentations in the ED and in the psychiatric world. First, Dr. Haddad establishes a medical definition of psychosis. The...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Tracheostomy bleeding is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication that usually occurs within the first month of tracheostomy tube placement No matter how severe the bleeding, every patient should be evaluated to rule out a tracheo-innominate fistula between the tracheostomy and the innominate artery If the patient is currently bleeding...

Contributor: Nick Hatch, MD Educational Pearls: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an increasingly common endovascular procedure to treat aortic stenosis TAVR is an alternative to the open approach surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) for patients who are inoperable or are high risk surgical candidates Following TAVR, there is increased risk of stroke, particularly in the first 3...

Contributor: Nick Hatch, MD Educational Pearls: "Smiling Death" describes the prehospital phenomenon of a person who is happy to be extricated from an extended period of crush injury, but dies suddenly soon after the rescue.   Smiling Death is caused by Crush Syndrome. Crush Syndrome begins when large areas of tissue are damaged by compression and subsequent impeded blood flow. Resultant cell deat...

Contributor: Jared Scott, MD Educational Pearls: Pepper spray is a chemical irritant derived from oleoresin capsicum (OC), an extract from pepper plants. It can be used by police for riot or crowd control, or by individuals for self defense.   In the event of an exposure, those affected should immediately disperse from the area, remove contact lenses with clean or gloved hands, and remove contamin...

Contributor: Jared Scott, MD Educational Pearls: About 50% of those infected with SARS-CoV-2 will shed the virus in their feces   Wastewater surveillance can be used to track COVID burden, which may be easier than collating test data from multiple hospitals across a region  Viral shedding begins 5-7 days prior to symptom onset, so wastewater data can be used to anticipate outbreaks and inform poli...