J Emerg Med
-
While transient ischemic attack and minor stroke (TIAMS) are common conditions evaluated in the emergency department (ED), there is controversy regarding the most effective and efficient strategies for managing them in the ED. Some patients are discharged after evaluation in the ED and cared for in the outpatient setting, while others remain in an observation unit without being admitted or discharged, and others experience prolonged and potentially costly inpatient admissions. ⋯ Discharge from the ED for rapid outpatient follow-up may be a safe and effective strategy for some forms of minor stroke without disabling deficit and TIA patients after careful evaluation and initial ED workup. Future research on such strategies has the potential to improve neurologic and overall patient outcomes and reduce hospital costs and ED length of stay.
-
Pharyngitis is a common disease in the emergency department (ED). Despite a relatively low incidence of complications, there are many dangerous conditions that can mimic this disease and are essential for the emergency physician to consider. ⋯ GABHS may present similarly to other benign and potentially deadly diseases. Diagnosis and treatment of pharyngitis should be based on clinical evaluation. Consideration of pharyngitis mimics is important in the evaluation and management of ED patients.
-
Emergency physicians differ in many ways with respect to practice. One area in which interphysician practice differences are not well characterized is emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS). ⋯ There are significant differences in ED LOS at the level of the individual physician, even after accounting for multiple confounders. We found that the LOSO/E for physicians with the lowest LOSO/E at each site averaged approximately 20% less than predicted, and that the LOSO/E for physicians with the highest LOSO/E at each site averaged approximately 20% more than predicted.
-
Case Reports
Traumatic Lingual Hematoma Resulting in Bilateral Temporal Mandibular Joint Dislocations.
Lingual hematoma (LH) is a relatively uncommon entity seen after both medical and traumatic etiologies. Regardless of the cause, the feared complication is acute airway obstruction. ⋯ Our case involves a 39-year-old man who presented to the Emergency Department via emergency medical services with an enlarging LH after an unwitnessed fall, suspected to be an alcohol withdrawal seizure. The bleeding was likely exacerbated by previously undiagnosed thrombocytopenia. Airway stabilization was rapidly established via nasotracheal intubation after standard intubation techniques were deemed unfeasible. Despite correction of the coagulopathy, the LH continued to expand, resulting in bilateral tympanomandibular joint (TMJ) dislocations. To our knowledge, this complication has not been previously reported as a complication of LH. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Despite being a relatively uncommon condition, LH has the potential to result in life-threatening airway obstruction with limited airway options. Prompt airway stabilization should be the first priority upon diagnosis. A rapidly evolving LH can limit standard orotracheal rapid sequence intubation options, and may require alternative airway procedures. Additionally, ongoing lingual swelling after airway stabilization has now been shown in our case to result in bilateral TMJ dislocations. Concurrent management of reversible coagulopathy may help prevent this complication or reduce its severity.
-
Case Reports
Noninvasive Ventilation as a Temporizing Measure in Critical Fixed Central Airway Obstruction: A Case Report.
Critical central airway obstruction (CAO) requires emergent airway intervention, but current guidelines lack specific recommendations for airway management in the emergency department (ED) while awaiting rigid bronchoscopy. There are few reports of the use of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in tracheomalacia, but its use as a temporizing treatment option in fixed, malignant CAO has not, to the best of our knowledge, been reported. ⋯ An 84-year-old woman presented to the ED in respiratory distress, too breathless to speak and using her accessory muscles of respiration, with bilateral rhonchi throughout the lung fields. Point-of-care arterial blood gas revealed severe hypercapnia, and NIV was initiated to treat a presumed bronchitis with hypercapnic respiratory failure. Chest radiography revealed a paratracheal mass with tracheal deviation and compression. A diagnosis of critical CAO was made. While arranging for rigid bronchoscopic stenting, the patient was kept on NIV to good effect. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Recommendations for emergent treatment of life-threatening, critical CAO before bronchoscopic intervention are not well established. Furthermore, reports of NIV use in CAO are rare. We suggest that emergency physicians consider NIV as a temporizing measure for critical CAO while awaiting availability of bronchoscopy.