Journal Jam 10 Part 2 Endovascular Therapy for Stroke

In this part 2 of EM Cases Journal Jam podcast on Thrombolysis and Endovascular Therapy for Stroke Justin Morgenstern, Rory Spiegel and Anton Helman do a deep dive into the world's literature on endovascular therapy for stroke. While the evidence for endovascular therapy is stronger than that for IV systemic thrombolysis for stroke outcomes at 90 days, a closer look at the literature reveals that a very small minority of patients are eligible for endovascular therapy and we still don't know which patients benefit most from endovascular therapy...

Journal Jam 10 Thrombolysis & Endovascular Therapy for Stroke Part 1

In this two part EM Cases Journal Jam podcast Justin Morgenstern, Rory Spiegel and Anton Helman do a deep dive into the world's literature on systemic thrombolysis for ischemic stroke followed by an analysis of endovascular therapy for stroke. We elucidate the important issues related to p-values, ordinal analysis, fragility index, heterogeneity of studies, stopping trials early and conflicts of interest related to this body of evidence. While "calling a code stroke" is now considered standard for most stroke patients and tPA for stroke is considered a class 1A drug, a close look at the literature tells us that the evidence is not as strong as our stroke protocols suggest...

Journal Jam 9 – D-dimer to Rule Out Aortic Dissection

The EM Cases Team is very excited to bring you not only a new format for the Journal Jam podcast but a new member of the team, Dr. Rory Spiegel, aka @EM_Nerd an Emergency Medicine physician from The University Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, the founder of the EM Nerd blog and the co-host of the Annals of EM podcast. The new format sees Justin Morgenstern, Teresa Chan, Rory Spiegel and Anton Helman doing deep dives into the world's literature on specific practical questions while highlighting some important evidence-based medicine concepts. The question we ask in this Journal Jam podcast: Is there a role for D-dimer testing in the workup of aortic dissection in the ED?

Journal Jam 8 – Dilute Apple Juice for Pediatric Gastroenteritis

This is EM Cases Journal Jam podcast on a randomized control trial of dilute apple juice vs PediaLyte for mild pediatric gastroenteritis. While IV rehydration is required in cases of severe gastroenteritis (which we rarely see in North America) and oral rehydration with electrolyte maintenance solutions is still the mainstay in treating moderate gastroenteritis, could better-tasting, more cost-effective fluids such as diluted apple juice be just as effective as traditional electrolyte solutions in milder cases? Listen to Dr. Justin Morgenstern (@First10EM) interviewing Dr. Stephen Freedman, the world-renowned pediatric EM researcher who put ondansetron for pediatric gastroenteritis on the map and who was one of our guest experts on our main episode on Pediatric Gastroenteritis, Constipation and Bowel Obstruction, about this practice-changing paper. This is followed by a hilarious rant on the topic from Dr. Anthony Crocco ("Ranthony"), the Division head and medical director of pediatric EM at Hamilton Health Sciences.

BEEM Cases 3 – Acute Respiratory Failure: NIPPV & POCUS

Shortness of breath is a very common chief complaint in the emergency department, but despite our familiarity with this symptom, management is not always straightforward. The differential diagnosis is extensive, including the common cardiorespiratory conditions, but extending to toxicologic, hematologic, neuromuscular, metabolic, and psychiatric causes. Over the past decade, we have seen the widespread adoption of new technologies to help us manage these patients. This post will look at some new evidence on two of those technologies: noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) and ultrasound (POCUS). We will answer 3 questions based on 3 systematic reviews using the BEEM critical appraisal framework...

Journal Jam 6 – Outpatient Topical Anesthetics for Corneal Abrasions

This is EM Cases Journal Jam Podcast 6 - Outpatient Topical Anesthetics for Corneal Abrasions. I’ve been told countless times by ophthalmologists and other colleagues NEVER to prescribe topical anesthetics for corneal abrasion patients, with the reason being largely theoretical - that tetracaine and the like will inhibit re-epithelialization and therefore delay epithelial healing as well as decrease corneal sensation, resulting in corneal ulcers. With prolonged use of outpatient topical anesthetics for corneal abrasions, corneal opacification could develop leading to decreased vision. Now this might be true for the tetracaine abuser who pours the stuff in their eye for weeks on end, but when we look at the literature for toxic effects of using topical anesthetics in the short term, there is no evidence for any clinically important detrimental outcomes. Should we ignore the dogma and use tetracaine anyway? Is there evidence that the use of topical anesthetics after corneal abrasions is safe and effective for pain control without adverse effects or delayed epithelial healing? To discuss the paper "The Safety of Topical Anesthetics in the Treatment of Corneal Abrasions: A Review" by Drs. Swaminathan, Otterness, Milne and Rezaie published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine in 2015, we have EM Cases’ Justin Morgenstern, a Toronto-based EM Doc, EBM enthusiast as well as the brains behind the First10EM blog and Salim Rezaie, Clinical Assistant Professor of EM and Internal Medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio as well as the Creator & Founder of the R.E.B.E.L. EM blog and REBELCast podcast. In this Journal Jam podcast, Dr. Morgenstern and Dr. Rezaie also discuss a simple approach to critically appraising a systematic review article, how to handle consultants who might not be aware of the literature and/or give you a hard time about your decisions and much more...

BEEM Cases 1 – Pediatric Minor Head Injury

Dr. Andrew Worster and the BEEM (Best Evidence in Emergency  Medicine) group from McMaster University has teamed up with EM Cases, Justin Morgenstern (@First10EM) and Rory Spiegel (@EMNerd_) to bring you a blog that blends the BEEM critical appraisals in a case-based, interactive, practice-changing format. In each post we choose the most important literature on a given topic and run through a case, learning how to apply evidence based medicine to our practice. Welcome to BEEM Cases! And here's BEEM Cases 1 - Pediatric Minor Head Injury...    Written by Justin Morgenstern (@First10EM), edited by Anton Helman (@EMCases), adapted from the BEEM Course, Jan 2016   Pediatric Minor Head Injury - Decision Rules, Isolated LOC & Strict Rest The Case... With seconds left in the game, Melissa, an 11 year old girl, drives hard to the basket for a layup. She gets knocked to the ground, and doesn’t see the winning shot pass through the net, because it appeared as though she briefly lost consciousness. She quickly gets back up and celebrates with her friends, but after the celebrations, her parents bring her to your community emergency department to get checked. You confirm that she [...]

Journal Jam 5 One Hour Troponin to Rule Out and In MI

Traditionally we've run at least 2 troponins 6 or 8 hours apart to help rule out MI and recently in algorithms like the HEART score we've combined clinical data with a 2 or 3 hour delta troponin to help rule out MI. The paper we'll be discussing here is a multicentre/multinantional study from the Canadian Medical Association Journal from this year out of Switzerland entitled "Prospective validation of a 1 hour algorithm to rule out and rule in acute myocardial infarction using a high sensitivity cardian troponin T assay" with lead author Tobias Reichlin. It not only looks at whether or not we can rule out MI using a delta troponin at only 1 hour but whether or not we can expedite the ruling in of MI using this protocol.

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?....

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