Emergency medicine clinics of North America
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Regional nerve blocks of the face are important skills every emergency physician ought to know. Facial anesthesia improves cosmetic outcomes, reduces pain, and improves patient satisfaction. Understanding the anatomy of the head and face is essential to the application of regional anesthesia, and this anatomy will be reviewed in depth. By completion of this article, physicians should appreciate the basics of the various nerve blocks of the head and face to repair any laceration.
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Salivary gland disorders are uncommon in the emergency department setting. Given the vast differential that spans infectious, autoimmune, neoplastic, and metabolic processes, they can pose a diagnostic challenge even to skilled clinicians. There is a paucity of evidence-based data regarding the management of these disorders with frequent incongruence between specific sources. Although by no means exhaustive or absolute, this article reconciles existing literature and serves as a concise and informative guide to salivary gland disorders encountered by the emergency care practitioner.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · May 2013
ReviewEvaluation and management of oral lesions in the emergency department.
This article reviews the emergency diagnosis and treatment of oral lesions. It presents a framework for developing a differential diagnosis based on the color of the lesions, describes emergency department interventions, and identifies pitfalls for the emergency physician.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · May 2013
ReviewEmergency evaluation and management of the sore throat.
Although sore throat is a very common complaint in the emergency department and is often associated with benign conditions, such as pharyngitis, it can be the early onset of something much more serious and even life threatening. A thorough history and examination are vital to the correct diagnosis but a high index of suspicion must be maintained to diagnose less common but serious pathology, such as epiglottitis and retropharyngeal abscess. Airway management is paramount to survival, and aggressive means should be taken early when epiglottitis is considered.
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This article presents up-to-date information for the emergency medicine community on several patterns of facial fractures and their associated injuries. The article contains information about the anatomic structure and pathologic injuries that occur in the setting of facial trauma and guides the emergency medicine community in the thorough physical and diagnostic evaluation, emergent treatment, and proper surgical or outpatient treatment.