Opioid and narcotic abuse has been a problem in Canada for some time, but nothing compares to the rapid sweep of opioid-related deaths and hospitalizations that have occurred over the past 2-3 years. While at one time, this problem was limited to a few pockets on the west coast, weRead More →
Journal Club Summary Seymour CW, et al. Journal N Engl J Med. 2017 Jun 8;376(23):2235-2244. EDITORIAL: State Sepsis Mandates – A New Era for Regulation of Hospital Quality. Hershey TB, et al. N Engl J Med. 2017 May 21. Methodology Score: 3.5/5 Usefulness Score: 3/5 This large retrospective review ofRead More →
Physiologically difficult airway: airway management in the critically ill patient, whose underlying physiology puts them at higher risk of cardiovascular collapse with intubation and conversion to positive pressure ventilation. This is important for in the Emergency Department as airway management is fundamental in the care of critically ill patients, butRead More →
Describe the pathophysiology of Pulmonary Hypertension (PH), and how it can be dangerous Who to suspect and workup for PH in the ED Describe the POCUS findings in PH Describe the management of these patients and how to avoid causing harm Physiology Definition Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is defined as aRead More →
Objectives: Explore the data for safety and efficacy of urgent blood pressure lowering in hemorrhagic stroke. Is there any benefit from management of elevated blood pressure in acute ischemic stroke that is not a candidate for tPA? What is the data for blood pressure target in subarachnoid hemorrhage awaiting definitiveRead More →
The Zika Virus exploded onto the international health scene in the last several months. It was first discovered in humans in 1951 and remained limited to Africa and Asia until the first major outbreak in Micronesia in 2007. Since then the virus has continued to evolve and spread from theRead More →
Pediatric endotracheal intubation is an uncommon procedure in the Emergency Department (ED); even in high volume tertiary pediatric centres the incidence has been reported at 8-10/10,000 patients. While infrequent, pediatric airway management is an essential and life-saving skill that all ER physicians must be prepared for. MuchRead More →
Use of the term “sepsis” continues to be controversial. We understand that patients with infection can manifest an immune-mediated systemic response, and are at risk of deterioration, organ dysfunction, and death. At what point in that cascade the patient is termed “septic” remains the centre of ongoing debate. In 2016,Read More →
The use of Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta (REBOA) has become a topic of considerable interest as of late, primarily to treat non-compressible truncal hemorrhage (NCTH). However, it is beginning to expand into other causes of non-compressible bleeding. Why do we care? Bleeding is the 2nd leading cause of traumatic death behindRead More →
For many of us in Emergency Medicine, PTSD is something we don’t really think about. We might pause before using ketamine for sedation in a war veteran, or seek psychological support for victims of sexual assault, but it is not a topic that we usually discuss or associate with. ItRead More →