Emergency medicine practice
-
Priapism is a genitourinary emergency that demands a thorough, time-sensitive evaluation. There are 3 types of priapism: ischemic, nonischemic, and recurrent ischemic priapism; ischemic priapism accounts for 95% of cases. ⋯ This issue reviews current evidence regarding emergency department treatment of ischemic priapism using a stepwise approach that begins with aspiration of cavernosal blood, cold saline irrigation, and penile injection with sympathomimetic agents. Evidence-based management and appropriate urologic follow-up of nonischemic and recurrent ischemic priapism maximizes patient outcomes and resource utilization.
-
Review Case Reports
The Focused Assessment With Sonography For Trauma (FAST) Examination And Pelvic Trauma: Indications And Limitations.
Pelvic trauma accounts for only 3% of all skeletal injuries but may have mortality as high as 45% in cases of severe trauma. Significant high-grade-mechanism trauma to the pelvis must always take the abdomen into consideration for evaluation. ⋯ This systematic review explores the utility and limitations of the FAST examination in patients with blunt pelvic trauma and discusses the timing for the examination during the trauma survey. Newer techniques for emergency department management of the unstable trauma patient are also addressed.
-
Review Case Reports
The Focused Assessment With Sonography For Trauma (FAST) Examination And Pelvic Trauma: Indications And Limitations.
Pelvic trauma accounts for only 3% of all skeletal injuries but may have mortality as high as 45% in cases of severe trauma. Significant high-grade-mechanism trauma to the pelvis must always take the abdomen into consideration for evaluation. ⋯ This systematic review explores the utility and limitations of the FAST examination in patients with blunt pelvic trauma and discusses the timing for the examination during the trauma survey. Newer techniques for emergency department management of the unstable trauma patient are also addressed.
-
Seizures and status epilepticus are frequent neurologic emergencies in the emergency department, accounting for 1% of all emergency department visits. The management of this time-sensitive and potentially life-threatening condition is challenging for both prehospital providers and emergency clinicians. ⋯ The approach to the patient in status epilepticus and the patient with nonconvulsive status epilepticus constitutes a special clinical challenge. This review summarizes the best available evidence and recommendations regarding diagnosis and resuscitation of the seizing patient in the emergency setting.
-
Review Case Reports
Heat illness in the emergency department: keeping your cool.
Heat illness spans a broad spectrum of disease, with outcomes ranging from benign rash to fatal heat stroke. Heat illness is broadly divided into 2 types: classic and exertional. Both types occur as a result of exposure to elevated temperature with inadequate thermoregulation; however, classic illness occurs without preceding physical activity. ⋯ Drugs, drug combinations, drug side effects, and infections can also cause or complicate heat illness and these manifestations may not respond to standard cooling maneuvers and treatments alone; each requires specific additional therapy or antidotes to reverse the cycle of heat and organ damage. This review examines the physiology, diagnosis, and treatment of exertional, classic, and drug-induced hypothermia. Field and prehospital diagnosis and treatment are also reviewed, with recommendations for rehydration and monitoring in rhabdomyolysis.