Emergency Medicine Alert articles from March 2004

Emergency Medicine Alert archives from March 2004

Nexus vs. the Canadian c-spine rule: let the battle begin.(Abstract & Commentary)
March 1, 2004... Source: The Canadian c-spine rule versus the NEXUS low-risk criteria in patients with trauma. N Engl J Med 2003;349:2510-2518. IN 2000, HOFFMAN ET AL PUBLISHED THE NEXUS STUDY DELINEATing five criteria to exclude the need for cervical spine...

Is response to nitroglycerin predictive of active?(Abstract & Commentary)
March 1, 2004... Source: Henrickson CA, et al. Chest pain relief by nitroglycerin does not predict active coronary artery disease. Ann Intern Med 2003;139:979-986. TO CLARIFY NITROGLYCERIN'S (NTG) ABILITY TO DIStinguish ischemic chest pain, Henrickson and...

What's the critical threshold in time for administering antibiotics in CAP?(Abstract & Commentary)
March 1, 2004... Source: Silber SH, et al. Early administration of antibiotics does not shorten time to clinical stability in patients with moderate to severe community-acquired pneumonia. Chest 2003;24:1798-1804. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROSPECTIVE...

Electrocardiographic ST segment depression.(Special Feature)
March 1, 2004... Introduction ST SEGMENT DEPRESSION (STD) IS AN IMPORTANT FINDing on the electrocardiogram (ECG) of the chest pain patient; in fact, this electrocardiographic finding is seen in approximately 30% of ED chest pain patients. (1) While ST...

Physician CME.
March 1, 2004... 20. Based on the study that looked at time-to-antibiotics in patients with moderate to severe community-acquired pneumonia, which of the following statements is false? a. There was no statistically significant difference in the time to...

What's going on?(ECG Review)
March 1, 2004... Clinical Scenario: The 12-lead ECG and accompanying rhythm strip in the Figure were obtained from an 84-year-old man who presented to the emergency department with acute dyspnea from pneumonia and heart failure. What's going on? Is RBBB (right...

Evaluation and management of blunt and penetrating thoracic trauma.
March 1, 2004... Trauma to the thoracic cavity is responsible for approximately 10-25% of all trauma-related deaths, (1,2) with the majority of these deaths occurring after arrival at the emergency department (ED). The mortality for isolated chest injury is...

CE/CME questions.
March 1, 2004... The most commonly injured structure(s) in the thorax is/are: A. the sternum. B. the clavicle. C. the ribs. D. the lungs. 2. The indication for surgical exploration or videothoroscopic evaluation of hemothorax in a chest...