Guiding Principles Suspected SARS-COV-2 patients showing signs of hypoxemic respiratory failure should be intubated proactively, as early as possible. Signs may include FiO2 requirement > 50%, clinical signs of respiratory fatigue despite supplemental oxygen, or hemodynamic instability. Do not wait for rapid deterioration to act! Such unstable respiratory failure patientsRead More →
Some helpful tips on how to #StayHome but maintaining your sanity while practicing social distancing!Read More →
RAFF2 Ian Stiell and colleagues are back at it with atrial fibrillation; The RAFF2 trial (Electrical versus Chemical cardioversion for Emergency Department patients with Atrial Fibrillation (RAFF2); A partial factorial randomized trial) was published in The Lancet this week. Acute atrial fibrillation is an irregular dysrhythmia that should be treatedRead More →
Dr. Reardon and colleagues identify key management priorities in optimizing the early resuscitation in patients after out of hospital cardiac arrest. Read More →
Journal Club Summary Methodology Score: 2.5/5 Usefulness Score: 2/5 Gaspari RJ, et al. Ann Emerg Med. 2019 Jan;73(1):1-7 Question and Methods: Unblinded single-centre RCT comparing POCUS vs. physical exam guided I&D of abscesses in systemically well patients, comparing treatment failure at 10d defined by repeat I&D producing purulence. Findings: InRead More →
Non-purulent skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs; i.e. cellulitis or erysipelas) account for up to 3% of all emergency department (ED) visits. Once the diagnosis of a non-purulent SSTI is made, the emergency physician must select the appropriate antibiotic agent, dose, duration and route (oral or intravenous (IV)). Current guidelinesRead More →
Syncope constitutes 1% of Emergency Department (ED) visits, and approximately 10% of these patients will have serious underlying conditions causing syncope (arrhythmia, MI, serious structural heart disease, pulmonary embolism, subarachnoid or severe hemorrhage). Alarmingly, half to one-third of these serious conditions will not be identified during ED evaluation. We previously derived theRead More →
Most clinicians are familiar with and utilize the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) on a daily basis, but many are not aware of the updates and additions to the score that were made in 2014 and 2018, respectively. Clarifications in the wording of the scale attempt to increase the ease ofRead More →
Necrotising soft tissue infections are an significant cause of morbidity and mortality, so an timely diagnosis is critical for the Emergency Physician. Here we discuss the publication of a new systematic review and meta-analysis on this challenging diagnostic entity, and include an helpful infographic to help interpret the findings [1]. Background NecrotizingRead More →
Dr. Stella Yiu and Dr. Shahbaz Syed presented their top Emergency Medicine (EM) articles of 2017 at the National Capital Conference on Emergency Medicine (NCCEM), we’re happy to present their summary here. References for each summary may be found at the bottom of the page. Text Summary Perry JJ, SivilottiRead More →