Emergency Medicine Cases

No matter where you practice emergency medicine there will be, or has been, capacity problems in the COVID-19 crisis. Even if we "flatten the COVID-19 curve" there will be a load on the systems that exceeds our capacity. Dr. Daniel Kollek, emergency physician, chair of the CAEP Disaster Medicine committee and Director of the Centre for Excellence in Emergency Preparedness, answers questions...

In this early release first podcast in a series of main episodes on COVID-19, Infectious Diseases specialist at Mount Sinai Health Systems and University Health Network and Professor at the University of Toronto Andrew Morris joins Anton on the latest on emergency screening, diagnosis and management of COVID-19, with some tips on managing yourself and your team by Howard Ovens...

Tension hydrothorax is a massive pleural effusion presenting with hemodynamic abnormalities secondary to mediastinal compression. Dr. Allan Shefrin tells his Best Case Ever of a child who presents in shock and discusses the causes of tension hydrothorax, indications for tube thoracostomy for hydrothorax and integration of POCUS into pediatric resuscitation.

Dr. Arun Sayal and Dr. Dale Dantzer answer questions such as: What should be included in the list of  key occult shoulder injuries that we should have in our back pockets when we are faced with a patient who has injured their shoulder and the x-ray appears normal? Which proximal humerus fractures are likely to require surgical management? Which shoulder injuries require a simple sling vs Velpeau s...

Salim Rezaie on single syringe adenosine for SVT, Sarah Reid on pertussis pearls, Elisha Targonsky on management of hyperemesis gravidarum , Joe Nemeth on the utility of hypertension as a risk factor in EM, Justin Morgenstern on tramadol myths, Reuben Strayer on ketamine only breathing intubation (KOBI)...

Dr. Arun Sayal and Dr. Dale Dantzer answer questions such as: How do we know we have adequate shoulder x-ray views? How can we best remember the differential diagnosis of an orthopedic extremity emergency with a normal x-ray? What is the quickest and best way to test neurologic status of patients with shoulder injuries? Why is axillary view of the shoulder so valuable? What is the biggest myth whe...

The current outbreak of the novel respiratory pathogen Coronavirus is an opportunity to remind ourselves of how to properly and adequately prepare for an emergency outbreak in our EDs. Although the mortality rate in patients with Coronavirus in this outbreak is less than 1% (which pales in comparison to Ebola or SARS), historically these types of outbreaks have occured every 5-6 years (SARS 2003,...

Does heparin - LMWH or unfractionated heparin - benefit the patient with a pretty good story for angina with a bump in their troponin and some ST depression in the lateral leads? We’re expected to routinely give heparin for all these NSTEMI and unstable angina patients with any ischemic changes seen on the ECG, right? And for STEMI too. But should we?....

In this EM Quick Hits podcast we have Paul Dorion on immediate cardioversion vs rate control/delayed cardioversion for atrial fibrillation, Justin Morgenstern & Justin Hensley on emergency management of snake bites, Brit Long on reliability of clinical features in the diagnosis of ovarian torsion, Michelle Klaiman on emergency management of crystal methamphetamine use disorder, Hans Rosenberg & Ro...

The question is: how do we best mentally and physically prepare for an ED shift? Dr. Rob Orman, master educator and fellow podcaster joins Anton to discuss a few options...

Among the presentations seen in the ED, few command the same respect as status epilepticus. It is, in itself, both a diagnostic dilemma and, at times, a therapeutic nightmare. There’s a reason it’s the very first domino to fall in the dreaded sequence “seizure, coma, death”. Status epilepticus can be nuanced to manage. Sure, most seizures self-abort or love an IV dose of lorazepam, but ask anyone...

In this EM Quick Hits podcast we have Emily Austin on physostigmine for anticholinergic toxidrome, Walter Himmel on understanding nystagmus to differentiate central vs peripheral causes of vertigo, Rob Devins on the role of transesophageal echocardiogram in cardiac arrest, Jesse MacLaren on nuances in inferior MI ECG changes and aVL, Andrew Petrosoniak on a practical approach to blunt cerebrovascu...

What is the essential list of immediate life threats with specific antidotes that we must know for the ED patient with a seizure? What are the key elements for distinguishing a true seizure from syncope? From Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizure (PNES)? From TIA? From migraine? How do you distinguish Todd's Paralysis from TIA or stroke? What are indications for lactate and troponins in patients who p...

Sarah Reid on pediatric appendicitis risk calculator, Sheldon Cheskes & Mark Ramzy on double defibrillation for refractory ventricular fibrillation, Hans Rosenberg & Krishan Yadav on cellulitis clinical pearls, Anand Swaminathan on serratus anterior block, Brit Long on recognition of toxic shock syndrome, Justin Morgenstern on tranexamic acid in head injury and CRASH-3...

Rob Simard of POCUS Cases fame and Scott Weingart go beyond ACLS and guide you through the complex world of PEA. We discuss that the palpation technique is poor at determining whether or not a patient has a pulse, that the POCUS pulse is more accurate and as rapid compared to the palpation technique at determining whether or not a patient has a pulse, the difference between true PEA arrest, Pseudo...

Justin Morgenstern on the lack of evidence for burn debridement, Jesse MacLaren on ECG Cases - missed ischemia and pitfalls of "normal" computer ECG interpretations, Arun Sayal on clinical diagnosis pitfalls of compartment syndrome, Sarah Reid on pediatric asthma pitfalls and myths, Andrew Petrosoniak on T-spine and L-spine fracture work-up, Michelle Klaiman & Taryn Lloyd on motivational interview...

While community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is 'bread and butter' emergency medicine, and the diagnosis is often a 'slam dunk', it turns out that up one third of the time, we are wrong about the diagnosis; that x-rays are not perfect; that blood work is seldom helpful; that not all antibiotics are created equal and that deciding who can go home and who needs to go to the ICU isn’t always so clear cut...

Anand Swaminathan on Lemierre's syndrome, Emily Austin on clonidine toxicity, Brit Long on myths of routine coagulation panel testing, Hans Rosenberg and Michael Ho on reversal of anticoagulation, Sheldon Cheskes on mechanical CPR...

Howard Ovens, Grant Innes, Sam Campbell and Anton discuss the root causes, challenges and some of the solutions of one of the defining characteristics of emergency medicine in the 21st century - overcrowding. It is absolutely in the interest of every single ED provider to understand how this problem came to be, and what we can do about it. As citizens of the medical community, becoming aware of th...

Anand Swaminathan on a simple approach to status epilepticus, David Juurlink on codeine and tramadol interactions: nasty drugs with nastier drug interactions, Brit Long on DOACS in patients with malignancy: which patient's with cancer can be safely prescribed DOACs? Ian Stiell on atrial fibrillation rate vs rhythm control controversy, Justin Morgenstern on peripheral vasopressors: safe or unsafe?...

In this EM Cases Best Case Ever podcast Rajiv interviews Dr. Eric Russell, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Baylor College of Medicine, Pediatric Emergency Medicine attending physician at the Texas Children's Hospital, and editor at the Human Diagnosis Project. They discuss a challenging case of a pediatric patient who presents with what at first appears to be bronchiolitis...

In the age of high sensitivity troponins and the HEART pathway, which patients are safe to discharge home from the ED? What are the most useful historical factors to increase and decrease your pretest probability for ACS? Which cardiac risk factors have predictive value for ACS? Why should the words "troponitis" and "troponemia" be banned? How should high sensitivity troponin be interpreted differ...

In this EM Quick Hits episode: Andrew Petrosoniak on diagnosis and risk stratification of blunt cardiac trauma, Clare Atzema on latest guidelines for anticoagulation in atrial fibrillation, Maria Ivankovic on hydromorphone vs morphine for acute pain, Brit Long on clinical pearls in the diagnosis of myasthenia gravis, Anand Swaminathan on venous access tips and tricks, and bonus material from EM Ca...

In this Episode 127 Drugs that Work and Drugs that Don't Part 2 - Antiemetics, Angioedema and Oxygen, with Justin Morgenstern and Joel Lexchin we discuss the evidence for various antiemetics like metoclopramide, prochlorperazine, promethazine, droperidol, ondansetron, inhaled isopropyl alcohol and haloperidol as well as why should not use an antiemetic routinely with morphine in the ED. We then di...

In this podcast we discuss the key concepts in assessing drug efficacy trials, and provide you with a bottom line recommendation for the use of gabapentinoids, NSAIDs and acetaminophen for low back pain and radicular symptoms, topical NSAIDs and cyclobenzaprine for sprains and strains, caffeine as an adjunct analgesic, why we should never prescribe tramadol, dexamethasone for pharyngitis, calcium...