Rhode Island medical journal (2013)
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Emergency department (ED) patients frequently undergo chest x-ray (CXR) to evaluate for pneumonia. The rate of false-negative CXR in patients with pneumonia is unclear. ⋯ Patients with pneumonia may present with normal or nondiagnostic CXR, although false negatives may be less common than previously reported.
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Severe traumatic brain injury is associated with both acute and delayed neuro- logical injury. Cerebral vasospasm is commonly associated with delayed neurological decline in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients. However, the role played by vasospasm in traumatic brain injury is less clear. ⋯ We present a patient with a severe traumatic brain injury who had dramatic improvement following emergent decompressive hemicraniectomy. Two weeks after initial presentation he suffered a precipitous decline despite intensive surveillance. This case illustrates the distinct challenges of diagnosing cerebral vasospasm in the setting of severe traumatic brain injury.
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Endoscopic discectomy is an ultra- minimally invasive outpatient surgical option for the treatment of lumbar herniated discs. The purpose of this study was to assess the benefit of tranforaminal versus interlaminar endoscopic discectomy in patients with single level Lumbar 5-Sacral 1(L5-S1) disc herniations and lumbar radiculopathy. ⋯ The 1-year follow-up data presented here for transforaminal and intralaminar approaches to L5-S1 disc herniations appears to indicate that either approach can be used as determined to best suit the pathology without sacrificing the probability of postoperative pain improvement.
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Delirium management begins with non-pharmacologic interventions and treatment of the underlying causes. There are no FDA-approved medications for delirium-related psychosis and agitation, although numerous agents have been studied. ⋯ Studies and expert guidelines support the use of antipsychotics for delirium-related psychosis and agitation, and demonstrate comparable efficacy and safety between first- and second- generation agents. Mounting evidence also suggests that antipsychotics and dexmedetomidine are effective in preventing delirium in surgical and mechanically- ventilated patients, respectively.