A Cook County Hospital Emergency Medicine Blog for up-to-date medicine and more.
Cauda Equina syndrome is a feared presentation for the emergency physician due to its needle in the haystack nature. Millions of visits for back pain occur each year, and it is our job to find those whose morbidity is unacceptable, like that of Cauda Equina.
Emily Bovasso, MS4
Read More
Figure 1. Adapted from Dr. Smith's EKG Blog. Source: http://hqmeded-ecg.blogspot.com/2013/10/polymorphic-ventricular-tachycardia.html
The Case:
A 40-year-old female presents to the emergency department for palpitations and lightheadedness. She has a history of depression on citalopram, migraines on amitriptyline, and was recently prescribed tramadol after she broke her wrist. She is well-appearing, and while being placed on the monitor, she becomes anxious, stating the symptoms are recurring. An ECG is performed, with Figure 1 serving as a representative EKG. The patient is awake and talking. Defibrillator pads are placed and 2 g IV magnesium is administered twice each over ten minutes resulting in the termination of the prior rhythm. A repeat EKG is obtained and is similar to that in Figure 2. The patient remains stable, but then degenerates again into an aberrant rhythm. What do you do next?
Adam Roussas, MD and Robert Feldman, MD
Read More
Source: Image by Freepik on Freepik
Ask many an emergency physician their least favorite complaint; a common answer will be epistaxis. Time-consuming, distressing for the patient, and unpredictable for the physician, we are in constant search of the magic bullet. Tranexamic Acid (TXA) was, at one point, imagined to be the answer we were searching for. Here, we aim to discuss TXA uses in mucosal bleeding of a variety of anatomic locations.
Jose Reyes, MD
Read More