Evaluating patients and developing a differential diagnosis list can be a slippery slope. Multiple cognitive errors (ex, premature closure, confirmation bias) are potentially just waiting to push you down that slope in the wrong direction. One region that can be…
There are many “medical myths” that require reconsideration from time to time (ex, cuffed ETTs). Some are less mythological and more misconceptions, misunderstandings, or just related to evolution of information and technology (ex, absorbable sutures for wound closure). This brings…
Ok, so maybe Homer has the wrong idea about “Fat Embolism”… I think he should be more worried about a devastating Food Impaction… but, with the Holidays upon us and the prevalence of fatty foods surrounding, me I began to…
We are always on the lookout for the big, bad, and ugly causes of our patients’ complaints in the Emergency Department. Someone has epistaxis and we think about bleeding disorders. If a patient is limping, we know it may be…
It seems that my patients teach me something new almost every clinical shift. Perhaps it is because I am getting older and have forgotten a lot. Maybe I have just seen more to ask questions about. I would like to…
Just when you think you have a handle on patient complaints and have a refined working differential diagnosis list for each complaint, a patient comes to teach you something new… and humbles you. Fortunately, I live in a general state…
We all know that caring for children can be tricky. Being a parent is certainly tricky… but trying to decipher the subtle clues a child presents with to ensure that nothing ominous is lurking underneath the non-specific complaints is unquestionably…
Sometimes our medical training may steer us astray. Fortunately through our continued education and experience (and maybe a Morsel or seven) we can overcome these shortcomings and detect some of the covert dangerous conditions. Retropharyngeal abscess is a good example:…
Ok, so I know that broken bones are nothing to laugh about, but in children the fracture of the proximal humerus gets no respect. We always talk about the Supracondylar Fracture or Scaphoid Fracture or wax philosophic about the utility…
We have previously discussed the fact that children are not aliens (the newly born and neonates are almost aliens though), but that we must recognize children as a special population with unique anatomy and physiology. Sometimes those considerations also have…
