Emergency Medical Minute

Contributor: Dave Rosenberg, MD Educational Pearls: The potential of vaccinations was first observed in the late 1600s when Jenner observed people who had cowpox never contracted smallpox, so he inoculated people with cowpox to see if it prevented smallpox, and… Years later, Louis Pasteur inoculated chickens with cholera after his assistant accidently created the first live attenuated vaccine by c...

Contributor: Chris Holmes, MD Educational Pearls: During a typical flu season positive rates of flu tests run around ~20% Surveillance data from Australia, South Africa, and Chile showed remarkably low rates of flu during their typical high season - only 51 total cases were reported This overlapped with COVID, meaning extensive social distancing and other measures likely have benefit with flu Edit...

Contributor: John Winkler, MD Educational Pearls: Swimmers itch is due to a flatworm parasitic infection that causes an itchy rash after the worm burrows into the skin The flatworm is passed between bird and snail hosts The itch is due to the death of the parasite under the skin which leads to an extremely itchy reaction. The rash can be difficult to identify, often erythematous and macular but ca...

Contributor: Nick Hatch, MD Educational Pearls: Kratom is derived from the evergreen tree sharing the same name, found in Southeast Asia Kratom is legal is most regions Adverse effects of this substance are increasing in prevalence as its use becomes more widespread At lower doses kratom has a stimulatory effect Higher doses of kratom can cause opioid-like and psychotropic effects Documented insta...

Contributor: Jared Scott, MD Educational Pearls: Lactate is a byproduct of anaerobic metabolism or tissue hypoperfusion Though typically associated with severe sepsis, hyperlactatemia can be caused by vigorous exercise, seizures, liver failure, asthma exacerbations, albuterol, metformin, antiretroviral drugs, and propofol Liver failure can lead to an inability to clear lactate, or convert it back...

Contributor: Don Stader, MD Educational Pearls: Pain is ubiquitous in the emergency department but it is not the enemy - suffering is Nociception is the ability to feel noxious stimuli which usually causes a reaction, like pulling a limb away when you feel something painful. Nociception is really a brainstem reflex. Pain is nociception plus cognition, meaning we process the noxious stimuli in our...

Emergency Medical Minute collaborated with CarePoint Health in early March for a night of education on Pediatric Emergencies geared towards mid-level providers at a local Denver brewery for our latest Brewcast. Pediatric patients require special considerations compared to adults when receiving medical care, and that remains true when dealing with respiratory illnesses across different age ranges. ...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: The use of oxygen is controversial when treating patients with certain conditions, like MI's, stokes, or ARDS because adverse outcomes have been demonstrated with using high oxygen concentrations. The Oxygen ICU trial looked at using higher and lower oxygen levels in treating intubated ARDS patients and found that mortality was improved when less o...

Contributor: Peter Bakes, MD Educational Pearls: Classically presents with the 6Ps: Pain, pallor, paresthesia, pulseless, poikilothermia (cold), and paralysis Acute limb ischemia occurs by embolic or thrombotic causes Thrombotic causes are now more common due to aging populations and advancements in vascular surgery like stents which can be a nidus for thrombosis. Sudden onset of pain without prio...

Capnography is the measurement of the partial pressure of exhaled CO 2 and is an indirect measurement of your cellular respiration. It is displayed visually as a block-like waveform during the exhalation phase of respiration and monitors ventilation in real-time. Capnography is the gold standard for monitoring sedated and intubated patients in the hospital and the field and can be used in many oth...

Contributor: Erik Verzemnieks, MD Educational Pearls: Baclofen is used to treat muscle spasms or spasticity. Baclofen comes in two forms: oral and intrathecal Withdrawal is much more common with those receiving intrathecal administration from a Baclofen pump, which is typically spinal cord patients Withdrawal symptoms usually start within 1-3 days after stopping baclofen Symptoms include altered m...

Contributor: Don Stader, MD Educational Pearls: F ractures and dislocations that require reduction do not necessarily require sedation  Nerve blocks are an effective alternative that can provide analgesia to reduce fractures and dislocations and provide sustained pain relief after the reduction is completed Hematoma blocks are effective for distal radius and various ankle fractures Shoulder disloc...

Contributor: Donald Stader, MD Educational Pearls: Not uncommon for patients presenting after opiate overdose and narcan administration to be observed for 4-6 hours This has been based more on tradition than evidence Observation periods for overdose may vary based on the opiate(s) used Fentanyl and heroin have half lives of about 2 hours, while oxycodone and methadone have significantly longer hal...

Contributor: Sam Killian, MD Educational Pearls: Droperidol (Inapsine) is an antipsychotic drug with efficacy for  nausea, vomiting, headaches, and treating agitation In the early 2000's, Droperidol received a black box warning for QT prolongation This caused a precipitous drop of in administration and ultimately led to a stop in production More careful analysis since has called into question the...

Emergency Medical Minute collaborated with CarePoint Health in early March for a night of education on Pediatric Emergencies geared towards mid-level providers at a local Denver brewery for our latest Brewcast. Pediatric patients require special considerations compared to adults when receiving medical care, and that remains true when dealing with fevers across different age ranges. With flu season...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: True allergies to penicillin compared to reported allergies from patients ranges around 10% Recent study took patients undergoing sensitivity tests and developed the PEN(icillin)-FAST score to address reported penicillin allergies PEN-FAST has four components for a total score of 0-4: o   F = five years or less since prior reaction. o   A = Angioed...

Contributor: Don Stader, MD Educational Pearls: Local anesthetics injected directly into wounds can cause distortion - especially important in facial lacerations Several blocks can be helpful to help numb branches of the trigeminal nerve (CN V) which innervates the face: Supraorbital nerve block: blocks distribution of V1 (most of the forehead) through injection above the eyebrow External nasal ne...

General Counsel attorney, Debi Smith, joins Dr. Nick Tsipis to discuss the ins and outs of healthcare law. Many people forget that a subpoena only compels attendance to a court date, it does not compel one to provide any information on a case without a specific HIPAA compliant authorization for use and disclosure of protected health information. Tune in for more details, perspective on the intrica...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Early antibiotics have been shown to improve outcomes in septic patients time after time Emerging evidence challenges the concept of one-size-fits-all large fluid boluses for septic shock patients and fluid may worsen patients who have underlying sepsis-induced pulmonary capillary leak Starting peripheral vasopressors early, and relaxing if fluid r...

  Contributor: Sam Killian, MD Educational Pearls: One study found that patients presented with headaches more frequently when there was high temperatures and low humidity, while higher humidity is correlated to lower incidence of headache. Moon phases had no effect on headache frequency. A Canadian study looking at over 100,000 ED visits for headaches found increased incidence of headaches when t...

Emergency Medical Minute collaborated with CarePoint Health in early March for a night of education on Pediatric Emergencies at a local Denver brewery for our latest Brewcast. Pediatric patients require special considerations compared to adults when receiving medical care, and that remains true for traumatic injuries dealt with in the ED and pre-hospital settings. Dr. Christine Darr, Pediatric Eme...

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Traditional teaching has shied away from using vasopressors through peripheral IVs Tissue necrosis from extravasation is cited as a risk of use of vasopressors through a peripheral site However, risk of extravasation is low (2-4%) and even more rarely results in significant complications Using an  IV that is more proximal and larger bore with monit...

Contributor: Don Stader, MD Educational Pearls: On average, smoking reduces life expectancy by 13.2 years for men and for 14.5 years for women Nicotine is highly addictive and has both stimulant and calming effects Having a newborn can be a strong motivator to quit so take advantage and educate new (or expecting) parents to the risks of smoking and benefits of quitting Smoking has been associated...

Dr. Glenda Quan, esteemed Trauma Surgeon at Swedish Medical Center, discusses cases related to limb injury and reviews their management.  Topics include proper tourniquet application as well as alternatives to commercially available devices how to manage pain or a difficult patient with significant limb injury. We also explore the use of new "hybrid ORs" where multiple surgical teams can care for...

Contributor: Ricky Dhaliwal, MD, JD Educational Pearls: Topical anesthetization can allow for an awake intubation, which substantially decreases chance of loss of airway or respiratory drive because sedatives/paralytics are not necessary Lidocaine treatments like URO-JET (2% lidocaine jelly) can be applied through the nare followed by LMX cream (4% lidocaine) which should be applied to the back of...