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!
Ah, that feels better! The Use of Nerve Blocks in the ED.
The ability to administer peripheral nerve blocks in the ED has the potential to provide fast and direct analgesia with less systemic side effects compared to parenteral medications. When administered by an experienced provider, studies have shown that peripheral...
Delivering safe and effective analgesia for management of renal colic in the emergency department: a double-blind, multi group, randomized control trial
Journal Club Summary Methodology Score: 4.5/5 Usefulness Score: 3.5/5 Pathan SA, et al. Lancet. 2016 May 14;387(10032):1999-2007 Abstract Link Editorial: Non-steroidalanti-inflammatory drugs for renal colic Knoedler JJ, et al....
Ticagrelor versus Aspirin in Acute Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack
Journal Club Summary Methodology Score: 5/5 Usefulness Score: 3.5/5 Johnston SC, et al. N Engl J Med. 2016 Jul 7;375(1):35-43. Full Article This large international double-blind double-dummy RCT across 33 countries and including 13,199 patients...
Randomized comparison of intravenous procainamide vs. intravenous amiodarone for the acute treatment of tolerated wide QRS tachycardia: the PROCAMIO study
Journal Club Summary Methodology Score: 2.5/5 Usefulness Score: 3/5 Ortiz M, et al. Eur Heart J. 2016 Jun 28. pii: ehw230. [Epub ahead of print] Full Article This RCT of patients with tolerated wide complex tachycardia found that IV Procainamide...
Top 5 Journal Club Articles In Emergency Medicine – 2015-2016 Academic year
Courtesy of klik internet This is a post summarizing our best-rated JC articles and the ones I find are the most useful from the past academic year. Each of the articles is broken down into one to two lines as to how I have incorporated them in my practice. For a...
Tips for Success in your Emergency Medicine Rotation
Our wonderful medical students are preparing to start their first clinical rotations. With this in mind here are some of the top tips for success in your EM rotation 1) Be On Time – show up to your shifts on time, better yet 5 minutes early. That first impression...
High-sensitivity cardiac troponin I at presentation in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome: a cohort study
Journal Club Summary Methodology Score: 3/5 Usefulness Score: 2/5 Shah, AS, et al. Lancet. 2015 Dec 19;386(10012):2481-8 Full Article Editorial:Myocardial infarction: rapid ruling out in the emergency room Cullen L, et al. Lancet. 2015 Dec...
Corticosteroid Therapy for Patients Hospitalized With Community- Acquired Pneumonia A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Journal Club Summary Methodology Score: 4/5 Usefulness Score: 3.5/5 Siemieniuk RA, et al. Ann Intern Med. 2015;163(7):519-528. Abstract Link This is a well-done systematic review & meta-analysis elucidating whether corticosteroid therapy...
Effect of Dilute Apple Juice and Preferred Fluids vs Electrolyte Maintenance Solution on Treatment Failure Among Children With Mild Gastroenteritis A Randomized Clinical Trial
Journal Club Methodology Score: 4.5/5 Usefulness Score: 4.5/5 Freedman, SB, et al. JAMA. 2016;315(18):1966-1974. Abstract Link This single centre, single blinded non-inferiority randomized controlled trial suggests that in children 6-60mo with...
ACHY BREAKY HEART: Risk Scores for Assessing Chest Pain in the ED
In order to help evaluate patients who present with chest pain many clinical chest pain scores have been developed. The aim of this post is to: Emergency Department (ED) physicians must assess and risk stratify patients presenting with chest pain nearly every shift....