EM Quick Hits 42 – Subsegmental PE, Trauma Analgesia, Drowning, Polio, Head-up CPR

In this EM Quick Hits podcast: Salim Rezaie on venous thromboembolism recurrence in subsegmental pulmonary embolism, Andrew Petrosoniak on pain management in the polytrauma, Nour Khatib on a rural EM case on management of near-drowning patient, Sara Reid delivers a polio primer, Anand Swaminathan on head-up CPR...

BEEM Cases 2 – Renal Colic Imaging, Analgesia, Fluids & Medical Expulsive Therapy

Urolithiasis is one of the more frequent diagnoses we are faced with in the Emergency Department, with an estimated 1 million ED visits due to renal colic. As such we are tasked with its diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. The following is a brief summation of the evidence regarding some of the most frequent questions encountered when diagnosing and managing urolithiasis. Four questions are answered by Rory Spiegel on this BEEM Cases. What is the optimal initial imaging modality for the diagnostic work-up of urolithiasis? Once the diagnosis of renal colic has been made what is the most efficacious analgesic strategy? Is there clinical utility to IV fluid administration in the management of renal colic? What is the use of medical expulsion therapy in the management of urolithiasis?

Episode 74 Opioid Misuse in Emergency Medicine

Pain leads to suffering. Opioid misuse leads to suffering. We strive to avoid both for our patients. On the one hand, treating pain is one of the most important things we do in emergency medicine to help our patients and we need to be aggressive in getting our patients' pain under control in a timely, effective, sustained and safe fashion. This was the emphasis 10-20 years ago after studies showed that we were poor at managing pain and our patients were suffering. On the other hand, opioid dependence, addiction, abuse and misuse are an enormous public health issue. Opioid misuse in Emergency Medicine has become a major problem in North America over the past 10 years at least partly as a reaction to the years that we were being told that we were failing at pain management. As Dr. Reuben Strayer said in his SMACC talk on the topic: “Opioid misuse explodes in our face on nearly every shift, splattering the entire department with pain and suffering, and addiction and malingering and cursing and threats and hospital security, and miosis and apnea and naloxone and cardiac arrest.” So how do we strike a balance between managing [...]

Journal Jam 4 – Low Dose Ketamine Analgesia

You’d think ketamine was in the ED drinking water! Not only has this NMDA receptor antagonist been used effectively for procedural sedation and rapid sequence intubation, but also, for delayed sequence intubation to buy time for pre-oxygenation, for life-threatening asthma as it has bronchodilatory and anxiolytic effects, for severely agitated psychiatric patients and excited delirium syndrome to dissociate them and get them under control; ketamine has even been used for refractory status epilepticus and for head injured patients as it is thought to have neuroprotective effects. The big question is: How effective is low dose ketamine analgesia for patients with moderate to severe pain in the ED as an adjunct to opiods? Low dose ketamine seems not only to help control pain, but it also has this almost magical effect of making patients indifferent to the pain. Pain is everywhere. And oligoanalgesia occurs in up to 43% of patients in EDs. Can we relieve suffering with low dose ketamine analgesia in the ED?....

Episode 55: Fluids in Sepsis, Post-intubation Analgesia and Sedation

In this second part of the Weingart-Himmel Sessions on critical care pearls for the community ED on the EM Cases podcast, we discuss the many controversies and recent changes in fluid management in severe sepsis and septic shock. With the recently published ARISE trial, and some deviations from Early Goal Directed Therapy, we are changing the way we think about fluids in sepsis: the type of fluid, the volume of fluid, the rate of fluid administration, the timing of introducing vasopressors and the goals of fluid resuscitation. In the next section of the podcast we discuss the PAD mnemonic for post-intubation analgesia and sedation, the prevention of delirium, and medication choices to minimize time on the ventilator, and improve prognosis.

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