We are excited to introduce the Sixth edition of The Ottawa Handbook of Emergency Medicine. Your bedside guide for approaches to various Emergency Medicine presentations.
Highlights of the Sixth edition include the addition of: Oncologic emergencies, approach to the pregnant patient, geriatrics and more!
PTSD for Emergency Physicians
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...
Development of the Canadian Syncope Risk Score to predict serious adverse events after emergency department assessment of syncope.
Journal Club Summary Methodology Score: 4.5/5 Usefulness Score: 4/5 Thiruganasambandamoorthy V, et al. CMAJ. 2016 Sep 6;188(12):E289-98 Full Article This large multicenter prospective ED syncope study derived a methodologically robust risk tool for...
Prevalence of Pulmonary Embolism among Patients Hospitalized for Syncope.
Journal Club Summary Methodology Score: 3.5/5 Usefulness Score: 2/5 Prandoni P, et al. N Engl J Med. 2016 Oct 20;375(16):1524-1531. Full Article This cross-sectional multi-center study of Italian patients admitted after an ED presentation for...
Blood, Salt, and CTs: An Update in Trauma for 2016
There were some notable papers published in trauma over the past 12 months or so. Here’s a look at three of them, which might help answer a few key questions in trauma management: When should you order a CT chest? What blood products should we be giving to trauma...
Emergency department point-of-care ultrasound in out-of-hospital and in-ED cardiac arrest
Journal Club Methodology Score: 3/5 Usefulness Score: 3.5/5 Gaspari R, et al. Resuscitation. 2016 Sep 28;109:33-39. Abstract Link This prospective, per-protocol observational study is now the largest study on the point of care ultrasound in cardiac arrest...
Clinical Risk Score for Persistent Postconcussion Symptoms Among Children With Acute Concussion in the ED
Journal Club Summary Methodology Score: 4/5 Usefulness Score: 2/5 Zemek R, et al. JAMA. 2016 Mar 8;315(10):1014-25. Full Article Editorial: Identifying Children and Adolescents at Risk for Persistent Postconcussion Symptoms. Babcock L, et al....
What We Know About Lyme Disease.
Relative to its incidence and prevalence, Lyme disease has gathered a tremendous amount of attention, particularly in the last decade or so. This can be attributed, in part, to the perceived difficulty in properly diagnosing and treating the disease. However,...
Direct versus Video Laryngoscopy: Are they just as good?
Did we get your attention? Good! This is one of the areas in Acute and Critical Care Medicine which is highly controversial. This post is a desire to explore the topic after this very interesting article below came out. I hope to get some feedback but please keep it...
Double-Blind Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial of Dopamine Versus Epinephrine as First-Line Vasoactive Drugs in Pediatric Septic Shock
Journal Club Summary Methodology Score: 3.5/5 Usefulness Score: 3/5 Ventura AMC, et al. Crit Care Med. 2015 Nov;43(11):2292-302 Abstract Link This well designed RCT demonstrated that in fluid refractory pediatric septic shock, dopamine is...
Immediate total-body CT scanning versus conventional imaging and selective CT scanning in patients with severe trauma (REACT-2): a randomised controlled trial
Journal Club Summary Methodology Score: 3/5 Usefulness Score: 2.5/5 Seirink JC et al. Lancet. 2016 Aug 13;388(10045):673-83. Abstract Link This is a multicenter randomized control trial of over a thousand trauma patients at five Level 1 trauma centres in western...