J Emerg Med
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Hip fractures can cause considerable pain when untreated or under-treated. To enhance pain relief and diminish the risk of delirium from typically administered parenteral analgesics and continued pain, we tested the efficacy of using fascia-iliaca blocks (FICB), administered by one of four attending physicians working in the emergency department (ED), with commonly available ED equipment. After informed consent, a physician administered one FICB to 63 sequential adult ED patients (43 women, 20 men; ages 37-96 years, mean 73.5 years) with radiographically diagnosed hip fractures. ⋯ Resident physicians learned the procedure and could perform it successfully with less than 5 min instruction. Physicians rarely use the FICB in EDs, although the technique is simple to learn and use. This rapid, effective, and safe method of achieving excellent pain control in ED patients with hip fractures can be performed using standard ED equipment.
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This article reports the case of a 52-year-old woman with septic arthritis and bursitis of her shoulder. Due to a minor musculoskeletal injury and lack of fever, the diagnosis was missed on her first Emergency Department visit. ⋯ Septic arthritis is a challenging clinical diagnosis, and when it occurs in more difficult to aspirate joints, the diagnosis can become more challenging still. Ultrasound provides a means for the emergency physician to establish the diagnosis more readily.
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Review Case Reports
Spontaneous globe subluxation in a patient with hyperemesis gravidarum: a case report and review of the literature.
Globe subluxation, or anterior dislocation of the eyeball, is rarely encountered by emergency physicians. We report a case of subluxation of the globe secondary to severe vomiting followed by a discussion of globe subluxation, potential causes, procedure for reduction, and treatment for recurrent episodes. Early treatment by emergency physicians may prevent long-term complications and limit patient discomfort and anxiety.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The effect of the assignment of a pre-sedation target level on procedural sedation using propofol.
The goal of this study was to determine if there is a difference in the achieved depth of sedation, the rate of respiratory depression, procedural difficulty, or patient perceived pain or recall between patients randomized to a pre-procedural target sedation level of moderate or deep procedural sedation using propofol during the reduction of fractures and dislocations in the Emergency Department (ED). This was a randomized, prospective study of adults undergoing procedural sedation (PS) with propofol for fracture or dislocation reduction in the ED between July 2003 and March 2004. Patients were randomized to a target sedation level of moderate or deep, using American Society of Anesthesiologists' definitions. ⋯ The mean physician VAS for procedural difficulty was 34.0 (95% CI 23.7-44.3) for the moderate PS group and 28.8 (95% CI 18.4-39.2) for the deep PS group (p = 0.46). In this study, the assignment of a pre-procedural target sedation level of moderate or deep PS did not influence the level of sedation achieved, the rate of respiratory depression, the occurrence of complications, the time to return of baseline mental status, or the success of the procedure. It does not seem that the assignment of a pre-procedural target sedation level is an effective means of changing the outcome of ED PS.
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Hypothermia is generally defined as a core body temperature less than 35 degrees C (95 degrees F), and is one of the most common environmental emergencies encountered by emergency physicians. A 32-year-old male hunter was admitted to the hospital with altered mental status. He remained unconscious, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score was recorded as 5/15, and pupils were dilated and unreactive. ⋯ At the same time, emergency head computed tomography (CT) scan showed subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and subdural hemorrhage. The patient died on the third day of admission. In this case we want to indicate that J waves and obtunded state could be due to either SAH or hypothermia, and SAH could have been missed if initial obvious hypothermia had been believed to cause all symptoms.