The patient in Undifferentiated Shock presents a unique challenge for the emergency physician, as the provider must perform time-critical resuscitation with limited diagnostic information. In addition to a focused assessment…
Antibiotics are prescribed to ~15% of emergency department (ED) patients and are among the most frequently utilized medications in emergency medicine. Often, the emergency provider (EP) must make clinical decisions…
Acute Stroke mimics, or nonvascular disorders that produce focal neurologic deficits, often confound the diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke. As many as 20% to 25% of suspected acute stroke presentations…
Annually, almost 6 million patients present to the emergency department with a chief complaint of chest pain. Thankfully, the majority will not have an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) as the…
Infective endocarditis (IE) is a bacterial or fungal infection of the heart valves or perivalvular structures and is a highly morbid condition associated with significant in-hospital mortality. The morbidity of…
The definition of status epilepticus has evolved as understanding of its potential sequelae has increased. Before examining the different causes of generalized convulsive status epilepticus (GCSE), it is important to…
Pain in a patient with sickle cell disease (SCD) can be an indicator of lifethreatening pathology. The provider can be lured into diagnosing and treating pain as a vaso-occlusive episode…
Upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) results from a variety of conditions that can vary from annoying to life threatening. The determination of nonvariceal versus variceal bleeding is critical as the tests…
Emergency providers (EP) frequently evaluate patients with acute chest pain. While most EPs rely on traditional risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) to aid their evaluation, they should also…
What is Tumor Lysis Syndrome Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is a metabolic syndrome characterized by renal failure and multiple metabolic abnormalities caused by the rapid and massive cell destruction and…