Core EM - Emergency Medicine Podcast

Catherine Jamin, Associate professor of Emergency Medicine at NYU Langone Health, talks about the essential use of vasopressors in the ED to increase blood pressure, improve organ function, and optimize metabolic status. She discusses the commonly used vasopressors, their mechanisms, dosages, and situational preferences. The podcast also covers the diagnosis of underlying pathology, the use of vasopressin and phenylephrine, and the escalation strategy for refractory shock.

Explore the differential diagnosis of joint pain in children, distinguishing between transient synovitis and septic arthritis. Learn about the diagnostic work-up, including blood tests and imaging studies. Understand the management strategies for septic arthritis, such as joint drainage and targeted antibiotic therapy. Discover the organisms that cause septic joint in different age groups and the importance of prompt treatment to prevent complications.

A quick primer on hypocalcemia in the ED. Hosts: Joseph Offenbacher, MD Audrey Bree Tse, MD https://media.blubrry.com/coreem/content.blubrry.com/coreem/hypocalcemia.mp3 Download 4 Comments Tags: calcium, Critical Care, Endocrine Show Notes Swami’s CoreEM Post Hypocalcemia Repletion: IV calcium supplementation with 100-300 mg Ca2+ raises serum Ca2+ by 0.5 – 1.5 mEq For acute but mild symptomatic hypocalcemia: 200-1000mg calcium chloride IV or 1-2g IV calcium gluconate over 2 hours  For severe hypocalcemia: 1g calcium chloride IV or 1-2g IV calcium gluconate IV over 10 minutes repeated q 60 min until symptoms resolve References: Cooper MS, Gittoes NJ. Diagnosis and management of hypocalcaemia. BMJ 2008; 336:1298. ​​Desai TK, Carlson RW, Geheb MA. Prevalence and clinical implications of hypocalcemia in acutely ill patients in a medical intensive care setting. Am J Med 1988; 84:209. Goltzman, D. Diagnostic approach to hypocalcemia. UpToDate. UpToDate; Jul 17, 2020. Accessed April 29, 2022. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/plantar-fasciitis Kelly A, Levine MA. Hypocalcemia in the critically ill patient. J Intensive Care Med 2013; 28:166. Pfenning CL, Slovis CM: Electrolyte Disorders; in Marx JA, Hockberger RS, Walls RM, et al (eds): Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice, ed 8. St. Louis, Mosby, Inc., 2014, (Ch) 125: p 1636-53. Swaminathan, A. (2016, January 27). Hypocalcemia. CoreEM. Retrieved April 29, 2022, from https://coreem.net/core/hypocalcemia/ Vantour L, Goltzman D. Regulation of calcium homeostasis. In: rimer on the Metabolic Bone Diseases and Disorders of Mineral Metabolism, 9th ed, Bilezikian JP (Ed), Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken, NJ 2018. p.163. Read More

How and when to reverse anticoagulation in the bleeding EM patient. Hosts: Joe Offenbacher, MD Audrey Bree Tse, MD https://media.blubrry.com/coreem/content.blubrry.com/coreem/AC_reversal.mp3 Download 3 Comments Tags: Anticoagulation, Critical Care, Resuscitation Show Notes Coagulation Cascade:   Algorithm for Anticoagulated Bleeding Patient in the ED:     Indications for Anticoagulation Reversal:   References:  Baugh CW, Levine M, Cornutt D, et al. Anticoagulant Reversal Strategies in the Emergency Department Setting: Recommendations of a Multidisciplinary Expert Panel. Ann Emerg Med. 2020;76(4):470-485. doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2019.09.001 Eikelboom JW, Quinlan DJ, van Ryn J, Weitz JI. Idarucizumab: The Antidote for Reversal of Dabigatran. Circulation. 2015 Dec 22;132(25):2412-22. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.019628. PMID: 26700008. Fariborz Farsad B, Golpira R, Najafi H, et al. Comparison between Prothrombin Complex Concentrate (PCC) and Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP) for the Urgent Reversal of Warfarin in Patients with Mechanical Heart Valves in a Tertiary Care Cardiac Center. Iran J Pharm Res. 2015;14(3):877-885. Fariborz Farsad B, Golpira R, Najafi H, et al. Comparison between Prothrombin Complex Concentrate (PCC) and Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP) for the Urgent Reversal of Warfarin in Patients with Mechanical Heart Valves in a Tertiary Care Cardiac Center. Iran J Pharm Res. 2015;14(3):877-885. Palta S, Saroa R, Palta A. Overview of the coagulation system. Indian J Anaesth. 2014;58(5):515-523. doi:10.4103/0019-5049.144643 Siegal DM, Curnutte JT, Connolly SJ, Lu G, Conley PB, Wiens BL, Mathur VS, Castillo J, Bronson MD, Leeds JM, Mar FA, Gold A, Crowther MA. Andexanet Alfa for the Reversal of Factor Xa Inhibitor Activity. N Engl J Med. 2015 Dec 17;373(25):2413-24. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1510991. Epub 2015 Nov 11. PMID: 26559317. Read More

A primer on this airway/ ID/ ENT emergency. Hosts: Joe Offenbacher MD, A Bree Tse, MD https://media.blubrry.com/coreem/content.blubrry.com/coreem/ludwigs_2.mp3 Download 2 Comments Tags: Airway, ENT, Infectious Diseases Show Notes References: Botha A, Jacobs F, Postma C. Retrospective analysis of etiology and comorbid diseases associated with Ludwig’s Angina. Ann Maxillofac Surg 2015; 5:168. Boscolo-Rizzo P, Da Mosto MC. Submandibular space infection: a potentially lethal infection. Int J Infect Dis 2009; 13:327. Brook I. Microbiology and principles of antimicrobial therapy for head and neck infections. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2007 Jun;21(2):355-91, vi. doi: 10.1016/j.idc.2007.03.014. PMID: 17561074. Chong W, Hijazi M, Abdalrazig M, Patil N. Respect the Floor of the Mouth. J Emerg Med. 2020 Jul;59(1):e27-e29. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2020.04.015. Epub 2020 May 19. PMID: 32439254. http://www.emdocs.net/ludwigs-angina-2/ Mohamad I, Narayanan MS. “Double Tongue” Appearance in Ludwig’s Angina. N Engl J Med 2019; 381:163. Saifeldeen K, Evans R. Ludwig’s angina. Emerg Med J. 2004 Mar;21(2):242-3. doi: 10.1136/emj.2003.012336. PMID: 14988363; PMCID: PMC1726306. Wolfe MM, Davis JW, Parks SN. Is surgical airway necessary for airway management in deep neck infections and Ludwig angina? J Crit Care. 2011 Feb;26(1):11-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2010.02.016. PMID: 20537506. Read More

A quick overview of pneumothorax for the EM physician: the what, why, diagnosis, and treatment. Hosts: Joe Offenbacher, MD Audrey Tse, MD https://media.blubrry.com/coreem/content.blubrry.com/coreem/Pneumothorax_CoreEM_podcast.mp3 Download One Comment Tags: #pneumothorax #FOAMed Show Notes Shownotes: CoreEM Pulmonary Ultrasound Post References: Bense L, Lewander R, Eklund G, et al. Nonsmoking, non-alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency-induced emphysema in nonsmokers with healed spontaneous pneumothorax, identified by computed tomography of the lungs. Chest 1993; 103:433. Bense L, Wiman LG, Hedenstierna G. Onset of symptoms in spontaneous pneumothorax: correlations to physical activity. Eur J Respir Dis 1987; 71:181. Brown SGA, Ball EL, Perrin K, Asha SE, Braithwaite I, Egerton-Warburton D, Jones PG, Keijzers G, Kinnear FB, Kwan BCH, Lam KV, Lee YCG, Nowitz M, Read CA, Simpson G, Smith JA, Summers QA, Weatherall M, Beasley R; PSP Investigators. Conservative versus Interventional Treatment for Spontaneous Pneumothorax. N Engl J Med. 2020 Jan 30;382(5):405-415. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1910775. PMID: 31995686. Chardoli M, Hasan-Ghaliaee T, Akbari H, Rahimi-Movaghar V. Accuracy of chest radiography versus chest computed tomography in hemodynamically stable patients with blunt chest trauma. Chin J Traumatol 2013; 16:351. Chan KK, Joo DA, McRae AD, et al. Chest ultrasonography versus supine chest radiography for diagnosis of pneumothorax in trauma patients in the emergency department. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2020; 7:CD013031. Ebrahimi A, Yousefifard M, Mohammad Kazemi H, et al. Diagnostic Accuracy of Chest Ultrasonography versus Chest Radiography for Identification of Pneumothorax: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Tanaffos 2014; 13:29. Gobbel Jr WG, Rhea Jr WG, Nelson IA, Daniel RA. Spontaneous pneumothorax. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1963; 46:331. Lesur O, Delorme N, Fromaget JM, et al. Computed tomography in the etiologic assessment of idiopathic spontaneous pneumothorax. Chest 1990; 98:341. Lichtenstein DA, Mezière G, Lascols N, et al. Ultrasound diagnosis of occult pneumothorax. Crit Care Med 2005; 33:1231. Melton LJ 3rd, Hepper NG, Offord KP. Influence of height on the risk of spontaneous pneumothorax. Mayo Clin Proc 1981; 56:678. Ohata M, Suzuki H. Pathogenesis of spontaneous pneumothorax. With special reference to the ultrastructure of emphysematous bullae. Chest 1980; 77:771. Sahn SA, Heffner JE. Spontaneous pneumothorax. N Engl J Med 2000; 342:868.   Read More

An interesting back story on this must-not-miss EKG finding in the ED! Hosts: Joseph Offenbacher, MD Audrey Bree Tse, MD https://media.blubrry.com/coreem/content.blubrry.com/coreem/CoreEM_Wellens.mp3 Download One Comment Tags: #FOAMed, #wellens, Cardiology, EKG, STEMI Show Notes Hosts: Joe Offenbacher MD, Audrey Bree Tse MD EKG Findings in de Zwaan C, Bär FW, Wellens HJ. Characteristic electrocardiographic pattern indicating a critical stenosis high in left anterior descending coronary artery in patients admitted because of impending myocardial infarction. Am Heart J. 1982 Apr;103(4 Pt 2):730-6. doi: 10.1016/0002-8703(82)90480-x. PMID: 6121481. Table 1 in de Zwaan C, Bär FW, Wellens HJ. Characteristic electrocardiographic pattern indicating a critical stenosis high in left anterior descending coronary artery in patients admitted because of impending myocardial infarction. Am Heart J. 1982 Apr;103(4 Pt 2):730-6. doi: 10.1016/0002-8703(82)90480-x. PMID: 6121481. REFERENCES: de Zwaan C, Bär FW, Wellens HJ. Characteristic electrocardiographic pattern indicating a critical stenosis high in left anterior descending coronary artery in patients admitted because of impending myocardial infarction. Am Heart J. 1982 Apr;103(4 Pt 2):730-6. doi: 10.1016/0002-8703(82)90480-x. PMID: 6121481. Lee, M., & Chen, C. (2015). Myocardial Bridging: An Up-to-Date Review. Journal of Invasive Cardiology, 27(11), 521–528.  https://lifeinthefastlane.com/ecg-library/wellens-syndrome/ Lin AN, Lin S, Gokhroo R, Misra D. Cocaine-induced pseudo-Wellens’ syndrome: a Wellens’ phenocopy. BMJ Case Rep. 2017 Dec 14;2017:bcr2017222835. doi: 10.1136/bcr-2017-222835. PMID: 29246935; PMCID: PMC5753703. Rhinehardt, J., Brady, W. J., Perron, A. D., & Mattu, A. (2002). Electrocardiographic manifestations of Wellens’ syndrome. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 20(7), 638–643. https://doi.org/10.1053/ajem.2002.34800 Tandy, TK; Bottomy DP; Lewis JG (March 1999). “Wellens’ syndrome”. Annals of Emergency Medicine. 33 (3): 347–351. PMID 10036351. doi:10.1016/S0196-0644(99)70373-2. (via Wikipedia) Read More

We discuss EM presentation, diagnosis, and management of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Hosts: Mark Iscoe, MD Brian Gilberti, MD Bree Tse, MD https://media.blubrry.com/coreem/content.blubrry.com/coreem/SAH.mp3 Download One Comment Tags: Critical Care, Neurology, Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Show Notes Non-contrast head CT showing SAH (Case courtesy of Dr. David Cuete, Radiopaedia.org, rID: 22770)   Hunt-Hess grade and mortality (from Lantigua et al. 2015.) Hunt-Hess grade Mortality (%) 1. Mild Headache 3.5 2. Severe headache or cranial nerve deficit 3.2 3. Confusion, lethargy, or lateralized weakness 9.4 4. Stupor 23.6 5. Coma 70.5   Ottawa Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Rule, and appropriate population for rule application (from Perry et al. 2017) Apply to patients who are: Alert ≥ 15 years old Have new, severe, atraumatic headache that reached maximum intensity within 1 hour of osnet Do not apply to patients who have: New neurologic deficits Previous diagnosis of intracranial aneurysm, SAH, or brain tumor History of similar headaches (≥ 3 episodes over ≥ 6 months) SAH cannot be ruled out if the patient meets any of the following criteria: Age ≥ 40 Symptom of neck pain or stiffness Witnessed loss of consciousness Onset during exertion “Thunderclap headache” (defined as instantly peaking pain) Limited neck flexion on examination (defined as inability to touch chin to chest or raise head 3 cm off the bed if supine)   ___________________________ Special Thanks To: Dr. Mark Iscoe, MD (Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine at NYU Langone Health, NYC Health + Hospitals/ Bellevue) ___________________________ References: Bellolio MF, Hess EP, Gilani WI, et al. External validation of the Ottawa subarachnoid hemorrhage clinical decision rule in patients with acute headache. Am J Emerg Med. 2015;33(2):244-9. Carstairs SD, Tanen DA, Duncan TD, et al. Computed tomographic angiography for the evaluation of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Acad Emerg Med. 2006;13(5):486-492. Connolly ES, Rabinstein AA, Carhuapoma JR, et al. Guidelines for the management of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a guideline for healthcare professionals from the American Heart Association/american Stroke Association. Stroke. 2012;43(6):1711-1737. Czuczman AD, Thomas LE, Boulanger AB, et al. Interpreting red blood cells in lumbar puncture: distinguishing true subarachnoid hemorrhage from traumatic tap. Acad Emerg Med. 2013;20(3):247-256. Dugas C, Jamal Z, Bollu PC. Xanthochromia. [Updated 2020 Aug 13]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526048/ Goldstein JN, Camargo CA, Pelletier AJ, Edlow JA. Headache in United States emergency departments: demographics, work-up and frequency of pathological diagnoses. Cephalalgia. 2006;26(6):684-90. Kumar A, Niknam K, Lumba-brown A, et al. Practice Variation in the Diagnosis of Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Survey of US and Canadian Emergency Medicine Physicians. Neurocrit Care. 2019. Lantigua H, Ortega-Gutierrez S, Schmidt JM, et al. Subarachnoid hemorrhage: who dies, and why? Crit Care. 2015;19:309. Macdonald RL, Schweizer TA. Spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage. Lancet. 2017;389(10069):655-666. Mayer PL, Awad IA, Todor R, et al. Misdiagnosis of symptomatic cerebral aneurysm. Prevalence and correlation with outcome at four institutions. Stroke. 1996;27(9):1558-63. Meurer WJ, Walsh B, Vilke GM, Coyne CJ. Clinical guidelines for the emergency department evaluation of subarachnoid hemorrhage. J Emerg Med. 2016;50(4):696-701. Perry JJ, Spacek A, Forbes M, et al. Is the combination of negative computed tomography result and negative lumbar puncture result sufficient to rule out subarachnoid hemorrhage? Ann Emerg Med. 2008;51(6):707-713 Perry JJ, Stiell IG, Sivilotti MLA, et al. High risk clinical characteristics for subarachnoid haemorrhage in patients with acute headache: prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2010;341:c5204. Perry JJ, Stiell IG, Sivilotti MLA, et al. Sensitivity of computed tomography performed within six hours of onset of headache for diagnosis of subarachnoid haemorrhage: prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2011;343(jul18 1):d4277-d4277. Perry JJ, Stiell IG, Sivilotti ML, et al. Clinical decision rules to rule out subarachnoid hemorrhage for acute headache. JAMA. 2013;310(12):1248-55. Perry JJ, Sivilotti MLA, Sutherland J, et al. Validation of the Ottawa Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Rule in patients with acute headache. CMAJ. 2017;189(45):E1379-E1385. Vermeulen MJ, Schull MJ. Missed diagnosis of subarachnoid hemorrhage in the emergency department. Stroke. 2007;38(4):1216-21. Read More

Dr. Philip DiSalvo, an emergency physician and toxicologist, discusses the reliability and limitations of urine drug screens in emergency medicine. Topics include false positives/negatives, interference, and the need for additional testing methods. The impact of timing and drug detection duration is explored, along with the role of urine drug screens in ED management and psychiatry.

Discover the challenges and urgent decisions involved in managing precipitous vaginal breech deliveries. Learn about the different types of breech presentations and the associated risks that come with them. The hosts discuss essential techniques and safe maneuvers, like the Mauriceau and Pinard Maneuvers, to ensure both mother and baby's well-being. Valuable insights on collaboration with OBGYN and neonatal teams highlight the importance of teamwork in critical delivery situations. Tune in to gain practical knowledge for emergency scenarios.