Emergency medicine clinics of North America
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · Nov 2016
ReviewA New Approach to the Diagnosis of Acute Dizziness in Adult Patients.
Dizziness is a common chief complaint in emergency medicine. The differential diagnosis is broad and includes serious conditions, such as stroke, cardiac arrhythmia, hypovolemic states, and acute toxic and metabolic disturbances. ⋯ The traditional approach does not distinguish benign from dangerous causes and is not consistent with best current evidence. This article presents a new approach to the diagnosis of acutely dizzy patients that highly leverages the history and the physical examination.
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Weakness is a common complaint in the emergency department, and a most challenging one, because before the emergency physician can proceed with an evaluation, the complaint of weakness must be fully clarified to determine about what the patient is actually complaining. This article will focus on causes of acute generalized nontraumatic bilateral weakness. Evaluation begins with the history and physical examination, followed by diagnostic testing in some cases.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · Nov 2016
ReviewAcute Nontraumatic Back Pain: Risk Stratification, Emergency Department Management, and Review of Serious Pathologies.
Acute back pain is a common presenting complaint in the emergency department that leads to a great deal of resource utilization. The differential diagnosis is long and most cases are caused by benign pathology that will resolve on its own. Imaging is over-used and rarely helps. This article presents an algorithmic approach using red flags in the history and physical examination that will help physicians better identify the small of patients with serious conditions that, if untreated, will result in significant neurological damage.
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Coma represents a true medical emergency. Drug intoxications are a leading cause of coma; however, other metabolic disturbances and traumatic brain injury are also common causes. ⋯ Definitive treatment is ultimately disease-specific. This article presents an overview of the pathophysiology, causes, examination, and treatment of coma.