A HAT (Hair Apposition Technique) Trick Written by Mike Barsky Lacerations are one of the most common reasons patients present to the ED. Most lacerations require primary closure to avoid infection and achieve a functional and aesthetically…
Procedures
Life hacks to ring removal Written by Erena Weathers You have a nice middle-aged lady, she’s been out and about, and sees a cute ring. She puts it on and goes about her day. She hits up some stores, gets some great finds and picks up some a…
Shoutout to this rare but satisfying procedure! Here is a great review of the causes and procedure and a great review from EM:RAP!
Before placementof your Sengstaken-Blakemore tube, your patient should be intubated to prevent aspiration. As this is only a temporizing measure, other services (GI, ICU, Maybe IR) should be notified and start mobilizing for definitive mana…
All of this discussion hinges on understanding the origins of air FLOW. A pressure differential or gradient is the key requirement. Tachypnea is the expected response to lung inflammation that produces stimulation of irritant, stretch, and…
Whether it’s asthma, a U.R.I., or post nasal drip as the cause, cough is a common enough complaint encountered by emergency physicians everywhere. Of course you must always rule out the dangerous causes of cough (PNA, Measles, PE, Heart fai…
Needle, wire, nick, dilate, catheter. Sounds simple right? However, simple doesn’t always mean easy. Placing a central line on a mannequin can be much easier than the 250lb ESRD patient with peripheral vascular disease and a MAP of 50. Belo…
As ED physicians, we fear the patient we can’t intubate, can’t ventilate. We’ve had a rash of emergency cricothyrotomies in our ED recently. Though rare, you never know when you might need to perform this life saving procedure. Review the b…
One of the most frequent requests we receive as teaching residents (and probably as senior residents) is assistance with performing paracenteses. By now, all of the EM residents are probably comfortable with this procedure. But, July is com…
Reuben Strayer has written and talked extensively about proper PSA technique in the emergency department. Here is his checklist so that you can minimize complications and maximize your success: For more information check out his Procedural…
