Emergency Medicine Commons^™

Medical Imaging Stewardship And Healthcare Savings: Utilization Of Age Adjusted D-Dimer To Rule Out Acute Pulmonary Embolism, Phillip Bloodworth, Casey Morris, Kenneth Cail, Brian L. Pando, Brian Helmly

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Introduction

Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common diagnosis that can lead to death if left untreated. Computerized tomography pulmonary angiogram scan (CTPA) is the gold standard for diagnosis of PE. Utilization of CTPA is increasing in the emergency setting even when suspicion for PE is very low. While CTPA is helpful, radiation exposure, contrast reactions, and cost must be considered. D-dimer is a well-established, high sensitivity and low specificity laboratory test that can effectively rule out PE in low-risk patients when negative. The ADJUST-PE trial showed that there is a natural rise of D-dimer levels with age. This age …

Car Ratings Take A Back Seat To Vehicle Type: Outcomes Of Suv Versus Passenger Car Crashes, Dietrich Jehle, Albert Arslan, Chirag Doshi, Clay O'Brien

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background

Car safety ratings are routinely utilized in making automobile purchase decisions. These 1- to 5-star ratings are based on crash test data comparing vehicles of similar type, size and weight.

Objectives

We hypothesized that car safety ratings are less important than vehicle factors such as vehicle type and weight in predicting outcomes of head-on crashes.

Methods

A retrospective study was conducted on severe head-on motor vehicle crashes entered into the FARS (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) database between 1995 and 2010. This database includes all US motor vehicle crashes that resulted in a death within 30 days of the accident. …

Clinical Characteristics And Laboratory Biomarkers For Patients With Suspected Covid-19 Infection Within Hca Healthcare, Scott Gutovitz, Justin Hanson, Christian Vandever, Dietrich Jehle

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background

The coronavirus infection (COVID-19), also known as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), caused significant illness and a worldwide pandemic beginning in 2020. Early case reports showed common patient characteristics, clinical variables and laboratory values in these patients. We compared a large population of American COVID-19 patients to see if they had similar findings to these smaller reports. In addition, we examined our population to identify any differences between mild or severe COVID-19 infections.

Methods

We retrospectively accessed a de-identified, multi-hospital database managed by HCA Healthcare to identify all adult emergency department (ED) patients that were tested …

Drowning Rule Out With Novices (Drown) In Ultrasound, Justin Schevers, Stewart R. Richardson, Jacob Pope, Dylan Arnold, Casey Wilson

South Atlantic Division GME Research Day 2021

No abstract provided.

Early Aggressive Hydration Is Associated With Decreased Opioid Use And Readmission In Mild Acute Pancreatitis, Shreyans Doshi, Hong Liang, Hale Z. Toklu, Selina Fritze, Sue-Wei Luu

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background: Acute pancreatitis (AP) is one of the most common causes of hospital admissions due to gastrointestinal disorders. No pharmacologic agents have been proven to impact the prognosis, and the treatment still remains supportive with intravenous fluids for hydration. Although early hydration has been recommended for the management of mild AP, there is no consensus on the type, rate, and amount of the fluid replacement.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate the outcome of aggressive hydration in patients with AP.

Methods: Retrospective data from patients admitted to 12 hospitals (2015–2017) was used for analysis. Five hundred patients who …

Investigation Of A Peculiar Case Of Childhood Lymphadenopathy, Chade Aribo, Alonso Al, Allison Woodall, Tommy Y. Kim

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Introduction: Lymphadenopathy is a common physical finding often associated with an infectious etiology. We present a case of a patient with generalized cervical and supraclavicular lymphadenopathy diagnosed with a rare malignancy. Health care providers should be aware of some uncommon historical or physical examination findings that warrant further investigation.

Clinical Findings: A 16-year-old female presented to the emergency department with 3 days of a fever, congestion and sore throat with swelling around the jaw. Her physical examination findings included bilateral mandibular swelling and generalized cervical lymphadenopathy with palpable supraclavicular lymph nodes.

Outcomes: Complete blood count showed pancytopenia with a white …

Low Dose Clenbuterol Toxicity: Case Report And Review Of Literature, Kenneth Lan, Adarsh Saheba, Paul Mathew

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Clenbuterol is a long-acting β-agonist used in oral and inhaled form for asthma treatment outside the U.S. and in veterinary medicine within the U.S. It is also used off-label for anabolic effects worldwide. Toxicity with clenbuterol is increasingly seen in U.S. hospitals, primarily in younger individuals using the drug for competitive athletics or bodybuilding. We present a case of a young patient who presented after an intentional overdose and discuss the relevant literature. Presentations do not correlate with the dosage ingested. Signs and symptoms can range from simple nausea to myocardial ischemia, rhabdomyolysis and cardiogenic shock. Treatment of overdose is …

Prehospital Antibiotics Improve Morbidity And Mortality Of Emergency Medical Service Patients With Sepsis, Thomas Martel, Monica N. Melmer, Samuel M. Leaman, Nicole Kassen, Seth Kozlowski, Jonathan Pangia, Scott Gutovitz, Dietrich Jehle

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background: Severe sepsis is a major cause of mortality in patients evaluated in the Emergency Department (ED). Early initiation of antibiotic therapy and IV fluids in the ED is associated with improved outcomes. We investigated whether early administration of antibiotics in the prehospital setting improves outcomes in these patients with sepsis.

Methods: This is a retrospective study comparing outcomes of patients meeting sepsis criteria in the field by EMS, who were treated with IV fluids and antibiotics. Their outcomes were compared with controls where fluids were administered prehospital and antibiotics were initiated in the ED. We compared morbidity and mortality …

Bedside Point Of Care Ultrasound Diagnosing Bilateral Valve Involvement In Infective Endocarditis, Corey Cole, Alfredo Tirado, Jonathan Schwadron

West Florida Division GME Research Day 2020

Endocarditis is a well known complication of intravenous drug abuse which classically affects the tricuspid valve. It is usually diagnosed by formal echocardiogram and positive blood cultures. Vegetations involving both the mitral and tricuspid valves are rare, occurring in less than 5% of all cases of infective endocarditis. 1 Here we report a case of a patient with vegetations on both valves which was discovered by point of care ultrasound.

End The Glow!, Roli Kushwaha, Anthony Furiato, Justin Mcnamee

West Florida Division GME Research Day 2020

Aortic dissection (AD) is part of a group of acute aortic syndromes consisting of intramural aortic hematoma, penetrating aortic ulcer, and aortic rupture. On its own, the incidence is ~3 to 8 cases per 100,000 per year, and up to 25% of cases are missed. The in-hospital mortality when treated is 27%, and with a 2% increase in mortality/hour. Imaging modalities like CT angiography, TEE, and MRA have made improved diagnosis of the disease, but are costly, potentially harmful, time consuming, and require patient stability when in use (1). The key question we have as emergency department providers is if …

The Evil Twin: The Case Of Heterotopic Pregnancy, Rashmi Jadhav, Vegas Brown, Gabriel Cabrera

West Florida Division GME Research Day 2020

• Heterotopic pregnancy occurs in about 1 in 30,000 naturally conceived pregnancies (5). The risk rises 1-3% for pregnancies occurring through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) (1).
• Isolated ectopic pregnancy affects an average of 1 in every 150 live births (1).
• A known pre-existing intrauterine pregnancy (IUP) can be falsely reassuring and delay the diagnosis of a potentially life-threatening concurrent ectopic pregnancy.
• Presentation is vague and 45% of patients have no symptoms (5).
• Differential Diagnoses: endometritis, incomplete miscarriage, ruptured ovarian cyst, non-GYN cause (ie: appendicitis or UTI).
• Risk Factors: Infertility treatment, in vitro fertilization (IVF), prior ectopic, prior tubal surgery, use of …

Evolving De Winter Presentation Of Acute Myocardial Infarction, Caroline Shepherd, Anthony Furiato

West Florida Division GME Research Day 2020

de Winter ECG pattern first detailed in 2008 in a case series Diagnostic criteria

• Tall, prominent, symmetric T waves in the precordial leads
• Upsloping ST segment depression >1mm at the J-point in the precordial leads
• Absence of ST elevation in the precordial leads
• ST segment elevation (0.5mm-1mm) in aVR

Strongly correlated with acute LAD occlusion

A Rare Cause Of Pneumoperitoneum, Robert Zusman, George Michael, Anna E. Augustin, My Myers, Dudith Pierre-Victor

West Florida Division GME Research Day 2020

Pneumoperitoneum is most commonly associated with a perforated viscus. When free air is seen on imaging, the most common course of action is an emergent exploratory laparotomy. However, pneumoperitoneum may not always be indicative of a perforated bowel. In the case described below, we will discuss a patient who developed acute peritonitis and pneumoperitoneum after undergoing chest compressions during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and positive pressure mechanical ventilation.

Two Resident Wellness Exercises And Their Impact, Nick J. Mccauley

Emergency Medicine

How program leaders in the CORD community are implementing innovations to improve residency wellness and resident resilience.

• Define resilience and describe how it can prevent burnout.
• Discuss ways that residency programs can work to promote resilience amongst residents COURSE DESCRIPTIONS #CORDAA20 35
• Introduce ‘Resilience Rounds’ as a didactic intervention, and the literature upon which this innovation is based
• Introduce art as a tool to overcome trauma and prevent burnout
• Demonstrate how conference/didactic time can help residents combat the perceived “culture of perfection” by sharing meaningful or successful moments with each other to improve one’s general outlook on their own practice

Scheduling Like A Pro, Joseph Gibney

Emergency Medicine

Scheduling is difficult, but believe it or not, it can also be rewarding. This is one chief’s take on three years of scheduling and the highs, lows, do’s, don’ts, and novel ways to help your fellow residents live their best residency life.

• Show that resident wellness is impacted by scheduling
• Demonstrate our scheduling process, some errors we made over time, and how we learned from them
• Discuss some novel scheduling tactics, how other residencies may apply what we’ve learned, and how to adapt it to fit their needs

Assessing For Gender Disparities In The Selection Of Chief Residents Of Emergency Medicine Residency Programs, Emilio G. Volz, Justin Steinberg, Tony Zitek

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Introduction: Although the number of women physicians has been increasing, there may be gender disparities in the assessment of female emergency medicine residents. This study sought to determine if female emergency medicine residents are less likely to become chief residents than males.

Methods: In July 2017, an anonymous survey was distributed to the program coordinators of all accredited emergency medicine residency programs in the United States. The survey requested the number of males and females in each graduating class from 2015 to 2017. The percentage of female residents who were chief residents was calculated and compared to that for males. …

The Great Imitator Strikes Again: A Case Of A Lupus Flare-Up Presenting Like An Acute Abdomen, Emmanouil Kiriakopoulos, Vanessa Perez, Robyn Hoelle

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease affecting all age groups and can manifest in various forms, often making the initial or successive presentations difficult to diagnose. Peritonitis secondary to lupus is a rare manifestation of this disease and the prevalence is said to be much lower in children. We present a case report of an adolescent male with a known history of lupus who presented to the emergency department with a clinical picture consistent with an acute surgical abdomen and underwent an appendectomy. Subsequent workup identified the culprit as a lupus-related peritonitis requiring corticosteroids for resolution.

The Role Of Mindset, Impostorism, And Irrational Beliefs In Resident Wellness: Results From The Hca Nationwide Longitudinal Resident Wellness Study, Gregory Guldner, Jason Siegel, Brendon Ellis, Anne Brafford

Medical Education

Background The significant proportion of residents reporting poor levels of well-being has appropriately fueled a call for interventions. Yet the specific constructs that impact well-being have not been well researched and validated in the resident population. Mindset (fixed versus growth), impostorism (the belief that one’s success is fraudulent) and irrational beliefs (dysfunctional beliefs that contribute to emotional pain and anguish) are among individual variables postulated to relate to well-being in a high-pressure educational environment. Each of these constructs is amenable to interventions should they have causal relationships to well-being.

Objectives Our prior research resulted in a statistically validated model of …

Hispanics Have Higher Grade Intracerebral Hemorrhage Compared To Non-Hispanics, Jessica Houck Do, Tej Stead, Paul Banerjee, Latha Ganti Md

Emergency Medicine

No abstract provided.

General Surgery Residency And Emergency General Surgery Service Reduces Readmission Rates And Length Of Stay In Non-Operative Small Bowel Obstruction, Sarah Waterman Manning Md, Katherine S. Mastriani

General Surgery

No abstract provided.

Starting Simulation For New Residency Programs, Steve Warrington

Emergency Medicine

Objectives

1. Identify 3 barriers and methods to overcome them when implementing simulation in new graduate medical education programs.
2. Discuss pearls and pitfalls to use when implementing a new simulation program at an institution.

Does Dispensing Naloxone Kits To High-Risk Patients At The Time Of Emergency Department (Ed) Discharge Reduce The Burden Of Subsequent Overdose-Related Care?, Steven D. Perry, Charleen Gnisci, Rachel Beham

Emergency Medicine

Purpose: The rates of opioid-related overdose and death have remained at or near historically high levels despite reform in pharmaceutical opioid prescribing trends. This study will determine if a recently implemented protocol which aims to provide high-risk patients with naloxone emergency kits at the time of ED discharge has reduced the need for subsequent overdose-related care to a greater degree than providing the same patients with written outpatient naloxone prescriptions. Patients currently receive either intervention upon discharge from the ED based on a protocolized, criteria-based, provider-implemented decision-making tree that identifies patients at high risk for subsequent overdose.

Methods: This study …

Utility Of Push Dose Vasopressor In The Emergency Department, Paul Nguyen, Daniel Giddings, Scott Dietrich, Kathryn Merkel

Emergency Medicine

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate push dose vasopressor (PDV) usage patterns, efficacy, and safety in a single community hospital emergency department when used for rapid sequence intubation (RSI). Pre-intubation hypotension is a positive correlator to incidences of cardiac arrest. Precautions should be in place to prevent and treat hypotension during emergent intubation. The emerging strategy of utilizing PDV in emergency department (ED) patients is an underexplored and potentially efficacious option.

Methods: This study will be submitted to the Institutional Review Board for approval. This retrospective evaluation will identify critically ill patients receiving phenylephrine or epinephrine PDV …

Incidence Of Aspirin Effect In An Anticipated Aspirin Negative Elderly Population, Emily Gullette, Heather Rhodes Md, Brant Clatterbuck Md, Nayda Parisio Poldiak, Christoph Kaufmann

General Surgery

No abstract provided.

Prevalence Of Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus Over Time In Resident Physicians, Lexus Dickson, Morgan Smith Md, Scott Gutovitz, Danielle Kocsis, Jean B. Wiggins, Steve Warrington Md, Stephen Thacker Md, Nayda Parisio Poldiak

Emergency Medicine

No abstract provided.

Point-Of-Care Ultrasound For The Pediatric Limp, Lucas Friedman Md

Pediatrics

Objectives

• Describe the technique and use of POCUS in the Limping Child
• Describe the use of POCUS in the diagnosis and treatment of Septic arthritis

Listen To Your Heart, Or At Least Theirs: Maintaining A High Index Of Suspicion For Infective Endocarditis, Mollie Powell Do, Mahesh Setty Md

Emergency Medicine

After an endothelial injury, a fibrin and platelet cap forms. This cap is typically sterile but in times of infection can become colonized by microbes leading to a vegetation. When this occurs on the endothelium of the heart, it is termed infective endocarditis (IE). IE is a difficult diagnosis to make in the ED. The symptoms are vague. Classic exam findings are often absent, murmur auscultation can be challenging and there is not a single diagnostic test. A delayed or missed diagnosis can be fatal; therefore, it is essential that ED physicians maintain a high index of suspicion in high …

Picture Perfect: Pediatric Ct Utilization In Trauma, Laura Strickland, Christa Zino Md

Pediatrics

No abstract provided.