The American journal of emergency medicine
-
A 52-year-old lady presented to the emergency department with recurrent episodes of dizziness and near-syncope on awakening up or swinging her left arm. Initial rhythm strips demonstrated intermittently non-conducted p waves corresponding to inappropriate pacemaker inhibition and oversensing malfunction. ⋯ The patient was diagnosed with pacemaker lead failure supported by correlating pacemaker lead variation with homolateral arm movement. The patient was referred to an electrophysiologist and underwent new right ventricular lead placement with the resolution of symptoms.
-
Comparative Study
Injuries associated with hoverboard use: A review of the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.
Hoverboards have become popular since they became available in 2015. We seek to provide an estimate of the number of injuries in the United States for 2015 and 2016, and to evaluate differences between adult and pediatric injury complexes. ⋯ Emergency department (ED) visits for hoverboard related injuries appear to be increasing. Pediatric patients are more at risk for hoverboard related injuries than adults and almost 6% of ED visits involved critical injuries, highlighting that hoverboards may be more dangerous than previously recognized.
-
Tranexamic acid (TXA) has been shown to decrease mortality in adult trauma patients with or at significant risk of hemorrhage when administered within 3 h of injury. The use and appropriateness of TXA in adult trauma patients presenting to Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) was investigated. ⋯ III STUDY TYPE: Therapeutic.
-
Homelessness is a critical public health issue and socioeconomic epidemic associated with a disproportionate burden of disease and significant decrease in life expectancy. We compared emergency care utilization between individuals with documented homelessness to those enrolled in Medicaid without documented homelessness. ⋯ Compared to non-homeless Medicaid patients, patients with documented homelessness were over seven times more likely to return to the ED within 30 days and over eleven times more likely to return to the ED in two years.
-
Compartment syndrome is a potentially limb-threatening disease process, leading to decreased tissue perfusion and cellular death [1]. The following presentation is believed to be the first reported case of thenar compartment syndrome, which occurred without an identifiable cause. A 67-year-old male presented with 12 h of left-hand pain, located at the base of the thumb and worsened with movement. ⋯ The diagnosis was confirmed and successfully managed in the operating room. While relatively uncommon, clinicians should consider the diagnosis of compartment syndrome of the hand when patients present with acute hand pain. A missed or delayed diagnosis can lead to severe morbidity, which can profoundly affect patients' functional outcomes and quality of life.