Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 160
Just when you thought your brain could unwind on a Friday, you realise that it would rather be challenged with some good old fashioned medical trivia FFFF, introducing the Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 160
Question 1
You are on expedition in Greenland and fall off your dog sleigh at speed. Unfortunately you’ve sustained your first ever dislocated shoulder, you think “when in Rome, why not try the eskimo method for relocation”. What will this involve?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Eskimo Technique begins with the patient lying on the nondislocated shoulder on the ground. Two people now lift the patient by the dislocated arm; holding onto the distal forearm or wrist. Keeping the opposite shoulder suspended a couple of centimetres off the ground, reduction is noted to occur usually within a few minutes.
Apparently successful 74% of the time. [Reference]
Question 2
What is Berlin oedema?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Also known as (commotio retinae) it is a common condition caused by blunt injury to the eye. Named after the physician that first noted the condition.
It is characterized by decreased vision in the injured eye a few hours after the injury. Under examination the retina appears opaque. This whitening is indicative of cell damage, which occurs in the retinal pigment epithelium and outer segment layer of photoreceptors. Damage to the outer segment often results in photoreceptor death through uncertain mechanisms.
The prognosis is excellent unless there has been choroidal rupture, haemorrhage or pigment epithelial damage.
- May AS et al. Commotio Retinae: A Report of 4 Consecutive Cases. IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences 2015;14(10):45-48
- Berlin R. Zur sogenannten commotio retinae. Klinische Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde. 1873;1:42-78
Question 3
What is the Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-ophthalmic Outburst reflex?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
ACHOO
Sneezing when looking at a bright light (colloquially the sun), it affects 18-35% of the population and its mechanism is not fully understood. Also known as the Photic sneeze reflex
Question 4
Which bone is named after a bird?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
The term coccyx is derived from the ancient Greek word κόκκυξ (kokkyx or cuckoo);in the writings of the Greek physician Herophilus to denote the end of the vertebral column. This Greek name for the cuckoo was applied as the last three or four bones of the coccyx resemble the beak of this bird, when viewed from the side.
- Sugar O. Coccyx. The bone named for a bird. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 1995 Feb 1;20(3):379-83.
Question 5
You meet a young patient who is tall and smokes complaining of bilateral pleuritic chest pain. To your surprise she has bilateral pneumothoracies. On speaking to the cardiothoracic surgeon they states she must have Buffalo chest. What do they mean?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Buffalo or bison have a single pleural cavity, one of the few mammals to do so, hence they were so easy to kill with a single arrow to the chest.
If your patient has a pleuropleuro connection they will develop spontaneous bilateral pneumothoracies which will resolve if a chest drain is inserted only on one side. Dr DJ Hartin et al reported one such case in 2006, perhaps the only one of its kind.
- Hartin DJ et al. Case of the month: Buffalo chest: a case of bilateral pneumothoraces due to pleuropleural communication. Emerg Med J. 2006 Jun; 23(6): 483–486.
FFFF
Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five
Dr Neil Long BMBS FACEM FRCEM FRCPC. Emergency Physician at Kelowna hospital, British Columbia. Loves the misery of alpine climbing and working in austere environments (namely tertiary trauma centres). Supporter of FOAMed, lifelong education and trying to find that elusive peak performance.