In honor of a rosh review question that I got wrong, lets review Lyme disease!   Lyme disease is caused by the spirochete Boriella burgdorferi, transmitted to humans through tick bites from ixodes ticks. Location: US, endemic in NE coa…

NGT INSERTION

Your patient has an SBO and has repeated bilious emesis on the side. The surgery team is in the OR and they ask if you can place the nasogastric tube (NGT). Lets review proper NGT placement and some new techniques that can facilitate placem…

Ouch that monkey bit me!

At the request of a colleague who recently treated a patient bitten by a monkey, I am going to write about treatment and prophylaxis for animal bites. First, a little BIT (get it?) about monkey bites. These are relatively rare in the US, pr…

It’s Freezing!

You are at elmhurst in the cardiac room. It is FREEZING outside. The triage nurse tells you there is a frequent flier in triage, EMS found him sleeping on the street with +AOB. He is confused and moaning to sternal rub. They cannot get an o…

pediatric blood transfusion

So you’re in peds and your patient is anemic. You need to transfuse, but you are confused. How much blood do you give? How fast do you give it? How much: The volume of blood to be transfused may vary depending on the clinical scenario…

Spontaneous Pneumomediastinum

Your patient is a 24 yo M with chest pain.  It is pleuritic. He has normal vitals and you’re not too concerned. You get a CXR and you see the result in this post. He has pneumomediastinum! What is that? What do I Do now? Spontaneous p…