a troublesome tachycardia
The Case. An 11 year old boy is bought to ED by his mother on a busy weekday evening. Mum reports that he has been ‘a little bit off’ over the past 24 hours, in particular he’s not keeping down…
Category Medical Specialty
big black spider…
The Case. A sunny Saturday morning in Sydney and your 56 year old patient was just outside doing some gardening when they feel a rather sharp bite on their right hand (on webspace between thumb and index finger). He arrives…
slowly, slowly…
Case: 76 year old female, presents with lightheadedness and lethargy. She is complaining of mid-scapular pain & is syncopal at triage. She has cold hands & clammy skin. Systolic BP 70 mmHg. Crackles to mid-zones of her chest. Distended JVP.…
observing the occult…
The case: A motorcyclist is minding his own business, stationary at a set of lights and is rear-ended by a car at ~60-70km He is thrown 10 meters or so from his bike and lands on his left side. Remarkably…
a tonne of bricks…
… well it wasn’t really a tonne; more like a dozen or so individual bricks falling from a height of 3-4 metres that peppered and glanced a patient I saw 48 hours ago. Whilst he presented as a ‘trauma’ and…
just a tablespoon…
This is the story of a 59 year old man who presented to our ED with a complaint of haemoptysis. He is otherwise well, takes no regular medications and besides his ’50 per day’ smoking history (over 40-odd years) he…
broad, fast & regular…
There are some things in medicine that I feel require a standardized approach for rapid diagnosis & management, especially in the face of an unstable patient & you have a little sweat on your brow. The following are two somewhat…
Fingertip Injury
A guide to the assessment and management of common finger tip injuries in the emergency department.
Another Ankle Sprain
A 23 year-old female netball player presents c/o pain and swelling to her right ankle post playing netball. Does she meets the criteria for X-ray to rule out a fracture?
Case of Commotio Cordis
Ventricular fibrillation and sudden death triggered by a blunt, non penetrating, and often innocent appearing unintentional blow to the chest without damage to the ribs, sternum, or heart (and in the absence of underlying cardiovascular disease) constitute an event know as commotio cordis, which translates from the Latin as agitation of the heart.
Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP)
Yesterday a Public Health warning was sent to the Emergency Departments of Southern Tasmania regarding an algal bloom in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel and the accompanying risk of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP). I thought I’d use this announcement as an opportunity…
A Case of Epistaxis
A 34 female presents to ED at 2am, post waking up with blood all over her pillow, and a continuous ooze of blood from her right nostril.