EMS Prehospital US- Dr. Heppner
- Pre hospital US began in the early 2000s
- Advantages include possible early diagnosis of pneumothorax, intrabdominal hemorrhage, cardiac tamponade, and tube confirmation
- Also, may improve triage process
- Barriers include costs of equipment and training as well as operator dependence
- Could also cause delay in transport times
Capstone- Dr. Davenport
- Heterotopic pregnancy risk is 1/100,000
- Consider this in patients with persistent symptoms despite IUP
- Zebra diagnoses are rare but still must be considered if nothing else explains the diagnosis
- Be cautious in pregnant patients if you are concerned with ectopic rupture, even in patients with stable vital signs
Hyponatremia- Dr. McGee
- For hyponatremia consider history closely when deciding volume status.
- Primary polydipsia is rare and requires huge amounts of water intake.
- Doing a repeat confirmatory test on a hyponatremic patient with minimal symptoms is important.
- Use serum osms to determine pseudohyponatremia
- In true hyponatremia, sodium and osms are low
- Low Urine Osms and low specific gravity point to ADH independent hyponatremia, high Osms and SG would suggest ADH dependent
- Consider Uric Acid test which may be low in SIADH
- Beware of elderly patients with mild hyponatremia because they are at much higher risks of falls
- Goal of hypertonic saline is to raise sodium by 5 mEq or improve LOC
Room 9 Follow up- Dr. Thomas
- 45 yof hx of obesity, HTN, DM, complaint of weakness and slurred speech with a GCS of 6
- Intubation complicated by black emesis but achieved with reverse trendelenberg position.
- Head up intubation increases time until desaturation.
- Consider bougie for increased first pass success
- Consider post intubation complications when selecting head up vs conventional intubation
Pediatric DKA- Dr. Patterson
- Pediatric DKA can many varied presentations
- Blood pressure is usually last thing to decompensate in pediatric shock
- Don’t bolus insulin initially. Make sure patient is resuscitated and potassium is appropriate
- 10-20 ml/kg fluid bolus is correct based on PECARN
- Most new evidence suggest that cerebral edema may be less iatrogenic than initially thought