A Cook County Hospital Emergency Medicine Blog for up-to-date medicine and more.
Evaluation of retroperitoneal trauma can be difficult with clinical exam alone. This is further daunting for the emergency physician given the cavity can hold enough blood to result in significant morbidity and mortality. Here you will find a discussion of the evaluation of retroperitoneal trauma.
Rikki Hall, MS4
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Figure 1: Ultrasound of the bilateral Achilles tendon with notable findings of surrounding anechoic fluid collection (white arrow) and decreased tendon diameter of the affected side.
The Case:
A 32-year-old man with no past medical history presented to the ED with left posterior ankle pain after playing basketball. He stated he jumped and felt an immediate “pop” and pain in the posterior leg. He has been unable to ambulate due to the pain. On exam, he had a positive Thompson test on the left calf. Radiographs were negative for acute fracture, but point of care ultrasound (POCUS) demonstrated an Achilles tendon injury.
Megan Buranosky MD, Victoria Gonzalez MD, and Scott Sherman MD
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Source: www.freepik.com
Is weight-based dosing for IV diltiazem in atrial fibrillation better than fixed dosing in treating atrial fibrillation? And which weight do we use? Given diltiazem has a half-life of 3 to 4.5 hours, you’ll want to be sure the dose you give is right dose for the patient. Find out more in the following article.
Joanne Routsolias PharmD
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