Category Archives: Trauma

THE GCS STILL DOES NOT BELONG IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE

Posted on March 19, 2013 by K

A while ago we wrote about the Glasgow Coma Scale and how it can´t be relied on for trauma patients or in emergency medicine in the acute phase.  We based it on an excellent editorial written by a Dr Stephen … Continue reading →

Posted in Emergency Medicine, Prehospital Medicine, Trauma | 1 Comment

LOST & FOUND: TRAUMA UPDATE

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Thomas D

. I wanted to have a permanent link to this excellent trauma update and review of recent litterature by David Anderson of Greater Sydney HEMS. If you watch this 30 minute talk and look up the references I’ve listed in … Continue reading →

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TRAUMA CARE EVOLVING

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Thomas D

Sometimes it feels like we’re not really going forward. Trends swing back and forth, new treatments and techniques get hailed one year, then falls out of favour the next. Are we moving forward at all? An article on hepatic trauma … Continue reading →

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RAPTOR SUITE

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Thomas D

So, in our latest Code Brown, I wrote on a crashing trauma patient. Scott Weingart made a comment where he also noted that transfer between OR and angio might come to an end with RAPTOR like operating theatres. RAPTOR is … Continue reading →

Posted in Anesthesia, Trauma | Leave a comment

CODE BROWN: CRASHING TRAUMA PATIENT

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Thomas D

We all know the rules for damage control resuscitation. Often the lines are clear. But sometimes it’s hard to make that call. We received a MVA trauma: a young man trapped in a wrecked vehicle for hours in the Norwegian … Continue reading →

Posted in Code Brown, Trauma | 16 Comments

FATTIES IN SMALL CARS

Posted on January 30, 2013 by K

An article in EMJ confirms a very valuable lesson I once learnt from a veteran paramedic. Fat people are more prone to suffering serious injury or death in car accidents.

Posted in Prehospital Medicine, Trauma | 1 Comment

WHERE TO SCAN FOR PNEUMOS

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Thomas D

I’ve always assumed scanning the chest at the level of the nipples would be best for finding a pneumothorax. Recently, I had a trauma patient where I excluded pneumothorax after a negative ultrasound scan. The CXR was negative as well. … Continue reading →

Posted in Emergency Medicine, Trauma | 6 Comments

OF ALL THE TRIADS OF DEATH THE TRIAD OF DEATH IS THE WORST

Posted on July 22, 2012 by K

In trauma patients hypothermia, acidosis and coagulopathy are known as the triad of death. Once established  they form a vicious circle that sends the patients spiralling towards death. An australian study looks at what happens to trauma mortality when patients … Continue reading →

Posted in Emergency Medicine, Trauma | Leave a comment

ABSENCE OF TACHYCARDIA USELESS IN ANAESTHETISED BLEEDING PATIENTS

Posted on July 11, 2012 by K

Our teaching and guidelines emphasise using tachycardia as a marker of hypovolemic shock. A paeds study in Anesthesia & Analgesia reminds us how that is far from always the case. The study makes me even more suspicious of the classic … Continue reading →

Posted in Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine, Trauma | 1 Comment

CONTINUOUS INTERCOSTAL NERVE BLOCK

Posted on June 5, 2012 by K

Isolated rib fractures in healthy young patients is most of the time no big deal. In other, more vulnerable, patients they can be lethal or significantly contribute to morbidity. A study in J Trauma dec 2011 suggests continuous intercostal nerve … Continue reading →

Posted in Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care, Trauma, Uncategorized | Leave a comment