Contributor: Meghan Hurley, MD Educational Pearls: 1. Initial Assessment Start with a physical examination: Determine if the bleed is anterior or posterior. Perform a primary survey: assess airway, breathing, and circulation (ABCs). Airway compromise = intubation immediately. If the patient is stable, have them blow out any clots, then re-examine the nares. 2. Topical Medications Anesthetics: provide local anesthesia and pain relief. Lidocaine Tetracaine Vasoconstrictors: reduce bleeding. LET (L...
Nov 10, 2025•6 min
Contributor: Travis Barlock, MD Educational Pearls: Quick Statistics on Electrical Burns: Electrical burns compose roughly 2 to 9% of all burns that come into emergency departments. The majority of patients who receive electrical burns are male, typically aged 20's to 30's, accounting for 80 to 90% of all electrical burn victims. The majority of burns are linked to occupational exposure. The upper extremities are more commonly impacted by electrical burns, accounting for 70 to 90% of entry point...
Nov 03, 2025•4 min
Contributors: Preeya Prakash MD, Adam Greenhaw PharmD, Travis Barlock MD, and Jeffrey Olson MS4 In this episode, cardiologist Preeya Prakash and medical student Jeffrey Olson listen in as two cases are presented from EMM's recent event, Tox Talk 2025. Talk 1- Digoxin Overdose Dr. Adam Greenhaw presents a case of a Digoxin overdose along with many pearls. During the studio listen in, Dr. Prakash helps to answer the questions of: How does digoxin work? Why might a patient still be on digoxin in 20...
Oct 29, 2025•57 min
Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Traumatic Brain Injuries are a frequent complaint in the Emergency Department and have increased in recent years. The American Association for Surgery of Trauma (AAST) has created Brain Injury Guidelines (BIG), in an attempt to categorize brain injuries and the level of treatment they require. They are… BIG 1 Normal neuro exam Not intoxicated Not on anticoagulation or antiplatelet medications Minimal findings on head CT No fracture Maximum of "tr...
Oct 27, 2025•3 min
Contributor: Taylor Lynch, MD Educational Pearls: A recent study published in a pediatric journal in April 2025 compared temporal and oral thermometers Paired temperature measurements (temporal and oral temperature within 30 minutes) were obtained from 1,412 pediatric patients 26% of patients had statistically different temporal and oral temperatures The temporal reading was always lower than the oral reading Children less than 12 years old were 2-3x more likely to actually have that statistical...
Oct 20, 2025•3 min
Contributor: Taylor Lynch, MD Educational Pearls: Delusional parasitosis is a subtype of the psychiatric condition delusional disorder Defined as a fixed, false belief of infestation by parasites or other organisms A somatic type of delusional disorder Primary delusional parasitosis Occurs in the absence of other psychiatric or medical conditions Secondary delusional parasitosis Causes include methamphetamine use disorder, schizophrenia, neurologic diseases, or medical conditions such as thyroid...
Oct 13, 2025•4 min
Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: The cause of Alzheimer's disease is multifactorial, but the most widely suspected mechanism is the amyloid cascade hypothesis: Beta-amyloid proteins accumulate in the central nervous system, forming plaques that impair neuronal function. In recent years, advances have led to the development of targeted therapies with monoclonal antibodies. These drugs: Work by degrading amyloid plaques Slow the rate of cognitive decline and disease progression Ha...
Oct 06, 2025•3 min
Contributor: Alec Coston, MD Case Report Summary: A 17-year-old female involved in a motor vehicle collision presented to a rural emergency facility via personally operated vehicle. During workup and initial CT scan, the patient began rapidly decompensating with CT revealing a 1.5cm epidural hematoma with 7mm of midline shift. The patient went from being able to walk and talk to being obtunded with a blown left pupil and unresponsive. Following intubation, the patient was being prepared for tran...
Sep 29, 2025•4 min
Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: What is a Nursemaid's Elbow? A condition in which an elbow gets partially pulled out of place (a radial head subluxation) Usually happens in kids under 5 because the ligaments around their elbow are still loose. A common situation is when an adult pulls a child up by the hand or swings them by the arms. The sudden tug causes the radius to slip out of its normal spot at the elbow joint. How are they identified? These don't normally need an xray Th...
Sep 22, 2025•4 min
Contributor: Ricky Dhaliwal, MD Educational Pearls: Angioedema in anaphylaxis Histamine and mast cell-mediated pathway Treatment: First line: epinephrine for vasoconstriction and bronchodilation Second line: H1 and H2 antihistamines such as Benadryl and famotidine ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema Different pathway from anaphylaxis ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema is mediated by bradykinins Therefore, anaphylaxis medications are not beneficial in patients with ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema Lea...
Sep 15, 2025•5 min
Contributors: Travis Barlock MD, Jeffrey Olson MS4 Feel free to use the cases below for your own practice. All of the scenarios are completely made up and designed to hit several teaching points. Case 1 25 M, presents to the ED with chest pain. Stabbing, started a few hours ago, substernal. Thinks it is GERD. After 2-3 minutes, pain worsens and radiates to the back. VS: BP 125/50 (Right arm 190/110). HR 120. RR of 18. Sat 98% on RA. Additional VS: Temp of 37.2, height of 6'5", BMI of 18. PMH: No...
Sep 09, 2025•53 min
Contributor: Travis Barlock MD Educational Pearls: Meningitis retention syndrome is a relatively novel and rare clinical condition Aseptic meningitis + acute urinary retention One study reports an incidence of about 8% in patients with acute aseptic meningitis Clinical presentation Typical meningeal symptoms including fever, stiff neck, and headache Urinary retention occurs about one week after initial symptoms Potential pathophysiology Immune-mediated dysfunction of the central nervous system D...
Sep 08, 2025•2 min
Contributor: Alec Coston, MD Educational Pearls: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is defined as a disruption in brain function that results from impaired liver function or portosystemic shunting. Manifests as various neurologic and psychiatric symptoms such as confusion, inattention, and cognitive dysfunction Although ammonia levels have historically been recognized as important criteria for HE, the diagnosis is ultimately made clinically. An elevated ammonia level lacks sensitivity and specificity f...
Sep 03, 2025•4 min
Contributor: Taylor Lynch, MD Educational Pearls: What is atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response (AFib with RVR) and how does it differ from atrial fibrillation (AFib)? AFib is an abnormal heart rhythm in which the heart has disorganized atrial electrical activity. This causes the atria to quiver with only select signals being conducted through the Atrioventricular (AV) Node to reach the ventricles and result in ventricular contraction. Often described as "irregularly irregular", a ...
Aug 25, 2025•3 min
Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Recorded March 2025 What is the best treatment for a fever? Tylenol? Ibuprofen? Combined? Alternating the two? The journal Pediatrics aimed to answer this question with a meta-analysis of 31 randomized controlled trials including 5,009 febrile children. Results showed that both combined and alternating acetaminophen/ibuprofen regimens were significantly more effective at reducing fever at 4 and 6 hours compared with acetaminophen alone, with numb...
Aug 22, 2025•2 min
Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: There are many techniques for reducing a shoulder dislocation A recent study discussed a new variation of closed reduction technique: wrist-clamping shoulder-lifting The patient is in a sitting position The provider holds the wrist of the injured arm with both hands and slowly rotates the arm to 90 degrees of abduction and 60 degrees of external rotation After this traction, the arm is slowly moved to 45 degrees of abduction and 60 degrees of ext...
Aug 11, 2025•3 min
Contributor: Megan Hurley MD Educational Pearls: Acute toxicity of heavy metals: Gastrointestinal upset is the most common presentation Chronic toxicity of heavy metals: Symptoms depend on the metal ingested Increased risk of cancer Altered mentation Developmental delays (in children) Kidney failure Four heavy metals that are tested for in a general panel and their sources: Lead Old paint (homes built before 1977) or some older toys Pipes of older homes or those with corrosive agents May obtain ...
Aug 04, 2025•3 min
Contributor: Taylor Lynch, MD Educational Pearls: Dilutional Hyponatremia: Occurs when there is an excess of free water relative to sodium in the body. Causes a falsely low sodium concentration without a true change in total body sodium. Commonly seen in DKA: Hyperglycemia raises plasma osmolality. Water shifts from the intracellular to extracellular space. This dilutes serum sodium, creating apparent hyponatremia. Corrected sodium calculation: Use tools like MDCALC, or apply this formula: Add 1...
Jul 28, 2025•3 min
Contributors: Col. (Dr.) Stacy Shackelford Dr. Sean Keenan Paramedic Alan Moreland Dr. Chris Tems Kara Napolitano From military-inspired trauma protocols to behavioral health alternatives and cardiac resuscitation, EMS is evolving fast. Our Medical Minutes from EMSAC highlight the growing need for prehospital providers to think critically, act quickly, and adapt to new approaches in trauma, crisis response, and patient advocacy. Educational Pearls: What was covered & recorded at EMSAC 2024 b...
Jul 26, 2025•12 min
Contributor: Jorge Chalit-Hernandez, OMS4 Educational Pearls: What is the toxic dose of acetaminophen? 7.5 grams, in an adult. The safe daily limit is 4 grams in an adult with a normally functioning liver. This is equivalent to fifteen 500mg pills. What are the symptoms of acetaminophen toxicity? First 24 hours, symptoms are non-specific e.g. nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite. Can also be asymptomatic. 24-72 hours, hepatotoxicity occurs (causing yellow skin, pruritus, abdominal pain, bleeding, ...
Jul 21, 2025•4 min
Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Many trauma patients are placed on oxygen via non-rebreather A large, multicenter, controlled trial evaluated the outcomes of oxygen administration in trauma patients Patients were randomized to two groups 1. 8-hour restrictive oxygen strategy: only receiving oxygen when the patient's saturation dropped below 94% 2. 8-hour liberal oxygen strategy: 12-15 liters of oxygen per minute or fraction of inspired oxygen of 0.6-1.0 The study evaluated rate...
Jul 14, 2025•2 min
Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Prehospital seizures are typically managed with intramuscular midazolam (Versed) Seizures theoretically involve the NMDA pathway, and ketamine is a potent NMDA antagonist A recent retrospective cohort study analyzed a Florida EMS protocol that uses ketamine in seizures refractory to midazolam One group received two doses of midazolam for seizure control The other group received a dose of midazolam followed by a dose of ketamine After matching, 82...
Jul 07, 2025•4 min
Contributor: Alec Coston, MD Educational Pearls: For patients presenting to the emergency room with hypertension, clinicians should determine if it is isolated and uncomplicated, or involves comorbidities with more complex underlying pathophysiology. For uncomplicated and isolated hypertension, first-line treatment is thiazide diuretics. How do thiazide diuretics work to treat hypertension? Thiazide diuretics work by blocking sodium and chloride resorption in the kidneys. "Where sodium goes, wat...
Jun 30, 2025•4 min
Contributor: Taylor Lynch, MD Educational Pearls: How do we risk-stratify chest-pain patients? One option is the HEART score This score predicts a patient's 6-week risk of a major adverse cardiac event. Ex. Cath procedure, CABG, PCI, death H stands for History Ask 1) Was the patient diaphoretic? 2) Did they have nausea and/or vomiting? 3) Did the pain radiate down the right or left arm? 4) Was it exertional? Yes to one = one point. Two or more = two points. E stands for EKG One point for left ve...
Jun 23, 2025•4 min
Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: A prospective study at the Mayo Clinic Rochester was conducted to examine whether patients actively using their phones on initial assessment in the ED was associated with higher discharge rates The study included 292 patients, and only about 15% of patients were on their phone The patients on their phone tended to be a younger demographic Scribes were trained to record the data during their shifts The results did show that patients on their phone...
Jun 16, 2025•2 min
Contributor: Travis Barlock MD Educational Pearls Frank's sign is a curious physical exam finding first described in the literature in 1973 Bilateral earlobe creases are recognized as a marker of coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease Some studies have found an increase in all-cause mortality in patients with bilateral diagonal earlobe creases The pathophysiology is still not fully understood One 2020 study found histopathological changes associated with diagonal earlobe creases, po...
Jun 09, 2025•2 min
Contributor: Taylor Lynch, MD Educational Pearls: The KLM Flight Disaster, also known as the Tenerife Airport Disaster, occurred on 27 March 1977. It involved the collision of two Boeing 747 passenger jets from KLM and Pan Am Airlines, resulting in 583 fatalities. What fell through the cracks to cause this incident? The captain of the KLM flight believed he had received clearance from air traffic control to take off, when in fact he had not. This captain was one of the most senior pilots in the ...
Jun 02, 2025•6 min
Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: How do we take care of kids in severe pain? There are many non-pharmacologic options for pain (i.e. ice, elevation) as well as more conventional medication options (i.e. acetaminophen, NSAIDS) but in severe pain stronger medications might be indicated. These stronger medications include options such as IV morphine, a subdissociative dose of ketamine, as well as intranasal fentanyl. Intranasal fentanyl has many advantages: Studies have shown it mi...
May 26, 2025•2 min
Contributor: Travis Barlock, MD Educational Pearls: Wheezing is classically heard in asthma and COPD, but it can be the result of a wide range of processes that cause airflow limitation Narrowed bronchioles lead to turbulent airflow → creates the wheezing Crackles (rales) suggest pulmonary edema which is often due to heart failure Approximately 35% of heart failure patients have bronchial edema, which can also produce wheezing COPD and heart failure can coexist in a patient, and both of these di...
May 19, 2025•3 min
Contributor: Jorge Chalit-Hernandez, OMS3 Educational Pearls: Psychedelics are being studied for their therapeutic effects in mental illnesses, including major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and many others Classic psychedelics include compounds like psilocybin, LSD, and ayahuasca MDMA and ketamine are often included in psychedelic research, but have a different mechanism of action than the others Their mechanism of action involves agonism of the 5HT2A receptor, am...
May 12, 2025•3 min
