J Emerg Med
-
Testicular infarction from an incarcerated inguinal hernia is a rare event in children, often not considered in the initial evaluation. ⋯ The diagnosis of testicular torsion is not always straightforward because many conditions may have a similar clinical presentation or may compromise testicular blood supply. This case is an unusual presentation of testicular infarction in the setting of an incarcerated inguinal hernia.
-
Ovarian torsion is the fifth most encountered gynecological emergency requiring surgery. Representing only 2.7% of surgical emergencies, it is an entity that is worth being familiar with in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Although a rare phenomenon, this case serves to increase awareness of the clinical presentation of ovarian torsion in the pediatric patient. Abdominal pain in the female child represents a challenging differential diagnosis, for which a physician must consider ovarian torsion.
-
Case Reports
Mastitis and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA): the calm before the storm?
Post-partum mastitis is a common infection in breastfeeding women, with an incidence of 9.5-16% in recent literature. Over the past decade, community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged as a significant pathogen in soft-tissue infections presenting to the emergency department. The incidence of mastitis caused by MRSA is unknown at this time, but likely increasing. ⋯ Recent evidence suggests that just as MRSA has become the prominent pathogen in other soft-tissue infections, mastitis is now increasingly caused by this pathogen. Physicians caring for patients with mastitis need to be aware of this bacteriologic shift to treat appropriately.
-
When patients return to the emergency department (ED) shortly after being seen, it is generally assumed that their initial evaluation or treatment was inadequate. ⋯ Unplanned ED revisits are associated with medical errors in prognosis, treatment, follow-up care, and information. Differentiation between the natural course of a disease, suboptimal therapy, over-anxious reaction of the patient, and medical errors is difficult. Although this study indicates that most revisits are illness-related, further prospective studies are needed to evaluate the most common and the most serious causes of revisits to see if improvements can be made.
-
Morbidity and Mortality conferences (M&M) are used to meet many of the Core Competencies required by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education for residency training programs. This study seeks to describe and quantify different types of M&M conferences among Emergency Medicine (EM) training programs. ⋯ EM training programs almost uniformly have an M&M, but these conferences vary in frequency, content, and attendance. Future studies are needed to investigate resident and faculty perceptions of M&M, its educational impact, and ways to improve the conference.