Emergency Medicine Insights: Altered Mental Status and Diagnostic Pearls

Show Notes

Take Home Points

1. When seeing patients with AMS, think of the 5 broad categories of pathologies – VS abnormalities, toxic-metabolic, infectious causes, CNS abnormalities and, lastly as a diagnosis of exclusion – psychiatric issues

2. In kids with AMS, think of zebra diagnoses and toxic ingestions and remember that primary psychosis is rare

3. Patients with ALL are susceptible to developing hyperleukocytosis. If the WBC is > 100K, think about getting hematology on the line to initiate chemo induction and leukopheresis

4. Always think about electrolyte disorders, particularly hypoNa in patients with global AMS. Remember to treat severe hypoNa w/ hypertonic saline and, to correct slowly as to avoid ODS

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