Bupropion (Wellbutrin, Zyban) is unique monocyclic antidepressant and smoking cessation agent that is structurally similar to amphetamines. Bupropion blocks dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake and antagonizes acetylcholine at nicotinic receptors.
Bottom line:
Bupropion is a common cause of drug induced seizures but in severe overdose can also cause prolonged QTc and wide complex ventricular dysrhythmia that may be responsive to sodium bicarbonate. All patients with an overdose of bupropion should have an ECG performed and cardiac monitoring to watch for conduction delays and life-threatening arrhythmias.
Femoral neck stress fractures
Adults>kids
Represents 5% of all stress fractures
Usually due to repetitive abductor muscle contraction
As with all stress fractures can occur in 2 types
1) Insufficiency type (normal physiologic stress on abnormal bone)
2) Fatigue type (abnormal/excessive physiologic stress on normal bone)
2 locations on interest:
1) Compression side (inferior femoral neck)
2) Tension side (superior femoral neck)
History: Insidious onset of groin or lateral hip pain associated with weight bearing
Exam: Antalgic gait, pain with hip log roll and with FABER (hip flexion, Abduction and external rotation test)
Treatment:
Compression side: reduced weight bearing and activity modification
Tension side: Non weight bearing (due to high risk of progression to displacement with limited weight bearing) AND surgical consultation for elective pinning to prevent displacement. If displaced, will require ORIF
Case: 5 year old presents to the ED with 2 weeks of fever. She has extensive cracked, bleeding lips and a rash on her hands and feet. She was recently diagnosed with “walking pneumonia” and hand, foot and mouth disease this week. Her pediatrician sent her in for further workup after she was found to have an elevated CRP on outpatient labs. A similar picture appears in the link below:
What's the diagnosis?
Hyperoxia and the Post-Arrest Patient
15% of older adults presenting to ED for dizziness have serious etiologies; 4-6% are stroke-related and sensitivity of CT for identifying stroke or intracranial lesion in dizziness is poor (16%), so if CNS etiology suspected, seek neuro consult or MRI (83% sensitivity)
Debating between cefepime or piperacillin/tazobactam for your septic patient? Use this table to help you decide.
|
|
| Cefepime | Piperacillin/Tazobactam |
| Gram Negative Spectrum | Pseudomonas aeruginosa | Yes | Yes |
| Aerobic gram negative organisms | E. coli Klebsiella sp. Proteus mirabilis M catarrhalis H. influenza | E. coli Klebsiella sp. Proteus mirabilis M. catarrhalis H. influenza | |
| Anerobic gram negative organisms | No | B. fragilis
| |
| Gram Positive Spectrum | MRSA | No | No |
| Aerobic gram positive organisms | MSSA CoNS Group A Strep S. pneumoniae
| MSSA CoNS Group A Strep S. pneumoniae E. faecalis | |
| Anaerobic gram positive organisms | P. acnes Peptostreptococci | P. acnes Peptostreptococci Clostridium sp. | |
| Infection Site Concerns | CNS Penetration | Yes | No1 |
| Urine Penetration | Yes | Yes | |
| Lung Penetration | Yes | Low2 | |
| Dosing Frequency (Normal Renal Function) | Q8h | Q6h | |
1. Tazobactam CNS penetration is limited, thus limiting antipseudomonal activity in the CNS
2. Low pulmonary penetration, may not achieve therapeutic levels in patients with critical illness
Your patient is an18 months old female with intermittent abdominal pain for the last 4-5 days. She has history of constipation and soy allergy, seen at an outside hospital three days ago for the same. She had an xray and was discharged home with instructions for at home clean out with diagnosis of constipation.
Mother is bringing her to your ED because the pain is back. The laxatives helped somewhat, but her symptoms have returned. She reports that the patient cries spontaneously, lasting 1-2 minutes, then completely resolves. These episodes happen at multiple times during the day.
ROS: Decreased appetite and energy, but NO fevers, vomiting, diarrhea, bloody stool, abdominal distension, hematuria, or lethargy.
47 year old woman presents with cough, headache, weakness, and low grade fever. Her symptoms have been present for several days. Vital signs are temperature 99.9 F, HR 96, RR 16, BP 140/88, Pulse Ox 98%. Physical exam is nonfocal. She is Influenza negative. She is treated with Ibuprofen and oral fluids. Upon discharge she mentions she is having difficulty hearing and feels dizzy. Upon further questioning she admits to ringing in her ears. What tests should you order?
As hospital volumes increase and ED patient boarding becomes more commonplace, emergency physicians may find themselves managing critically ill patients beyond the initial resuscitation.
The benefit of glucocorticoids in critically ill patients with septic shock has remained a topic of controversy for decades due to conflicting studies, including the 2002 Annane trial and the 2008 CORTICUS trial, which had opposing results when it came to the mortality benefit of steroids.
The results of the eagerly-awaited ADRENAL trial, a multicenter randomized controlled trial investigating the benefit of steroids in septic shock, were released earlier this month:
Take Home Points:
1. Administration of standard daily dose hydrocortisone by infusion does not seem to affect mortality in septic shock.
2. Emergency providers should continue to consider stress-dose steroids in patients with shock and a high risk of adrenal insufficiency (e.g., chronic steroid therapy, genetic disorders, infectious adrenalitis, etc).
Dental Avulsion in the field/sporting event
- Only replace avulsed secondary teeth
- Handle the tooth by the crown only
- Rinse tooth with cold running water gently (the root should not be wiped)
- Immediate attempt to reimplant permanent tooth into socket by 1st capable person:
* Time is tooth: Each minute tooth is out of socket reduces tooth viability by 1%
* Best chance of success if reimplant done within 5–15 min*? Poor tooth viability if avulsed for >1 hr
- If unsuccessful, place tooth in a transport solution (from most to least desirable):
- Hanks balanced salt solution (HBSS)
* Balanced pH culture media available commercially in the Save-A-Tooth kit
* Effective hours after avulsion
- Cold milk:
* Best alternative storage medium
* Place tooth in a container of milk that is then packed in ice (prevents dilution)
- Saliva:
* Store in a container of parent or child's saliva
- Never use tap water or dry transport
Bottom line: Oral morphine was not superior to ibuprofen and both drugs decreased pain with no difference in efficacy. Morphine was associated with more adverse events.
Acute liver failure carries a high morbidity without liver transplantation. Liver support systems can act as “bridge” until an organ becomes available for the transplant procedure or until the liver recovers from injury. Artificial liver support systems temporally provide liver detoxification utilizing albumin as scavenger molecule to clear the toxins without providing synthetic functions of the liver (coagulation factors). One of the most widely used devices is the Molecular Adsorbent Recirculating System (MARS).This system has 3 different fluid compartments: blood circuit, albumin with charcoal and anion exchange column, and a dialysate circuit that removes protein bound and water soluble toxins with albumin.
Bottom Line
MARS therapy could be a potentially promising life saving treatment for patients with acute poisoning from drugs that have high protein-binding capacity and are metabolized by the liver, especially when concomitment liver failure. Consider consultation and transfer of patients to liver center.
Concussion – Where are we now?
The Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 5th edition (SCAT 5) was released in 2017
It is a standardized tool to assist health care professionals in the evaluation of sport associated concussions
It should be used for those 13 years and older (there is a child version for younger athletes)
Print and bring to the sideline for your next coverage event!
http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/bjsports/early/2017/04/26/bjsports-2017-097506SCAT5.full.pdf
Some points to consider:
It should take at least 10 minutes to complete. Any less and you may not be performing the test correctly
The SCAT5 is the standard tool used in concussion assessment in the NCAA and NFL and other professional sports
Some symptoms of concussion appear over time. For example, an athlete may have zero or minimal symptoms immediately after yet be considerably symptomatic in 10 to 15 minutes.
-Follow up screening evaluations are essential even in those with a negative initial sideline screening test
The SCAT5 should be used immediately after injury
-Utility decreases post injury after days 3-5
-The included symptom checklist has utility in tracking recovery
-Attempt to perform in an environment free of distractions (crowd noise, bad weather)
The clinical utility of the SCAT5 can be enhanced by adding assessment of other factors such as reaction time, balance assessment, video-observable signs (if available) and oculomotor screening.
Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose is the leading cause of liver failure in the U.S. and Europe. Large APAP ingestion can result in hepatotoxicity despite the early initiation of n-acetylcysteine (NAC).
A recently published study from Austrialia investigated the effect of activate charcoal and increasing the NAC dose for large APAP overdose patients (3rd bag: 100 to 200 mg/kg over 16 hours) during first 21 hours of NAC therapy
acetaminophen ratio (first APAP level taken between 4 to 16 hour post ingestion / APAP level on the Rumack nomogram line at that time point) was determined to compare APAP levels at different time points among study sample
e.g.
first APAP level at 4 hour post ingestion = 400
APAP level on the Rumack APAP nomogram at 4 hour post ingestion = 150
APAP ratio = 400/150 = 2.67
Findings:
Conclusion:
Note: Any increase in NAC dosing from the standard 21 hour therapy should be performed after consulting your regional poison center.
Bottom Line: Consider RCVS in the differential of thunderclap headache and in patients who present with worse than usual migraine headache.
Septic Cardiomyopathy
Patients with severe asthma exacerbations that are unresponsive to inhaled beta-agonists may require the use of epinephrine to control their symptoms. When patients get to this point what route of administration should be used for the administration of epinephrine?
The most recent asthma guidelines (published in 2007) recommend the use of SubQ epinephrine 0.3-0.5 mg every 20 minutes for 3 doses. Drug references typically list SubQ or IM epinephrine 0.01 mg/kg (~0.3-0.5 mg) every 20 minutes as appropriate routes of administration. There is currently no data demonstrating that one route of administration is better than the other in patients with asthma; however, in other disease states, such as anaphylaxis, IM epinephrine is preferred due to the more rapid and reliable absorption over SubQ administration.
Auto-injectors that administer IM epinephrine 0.3 mg are available. These auto-injectors may decrease the risk of medications error; however, they can be expensive. SubQ administration requires the use of a syringe and a vial/ampule of 1 mg/mL epinephrine.
Bottom Line: Either SubQ or IM epinephrine administration is appropriate for patients with severe asthma exacerbations. The preferred method at a given institution will be dictated by historical practice, risk of medication dosing errors, and drug cost.
