Boring Question: Is this patient seeking opioids for non-medical use?

In Clinical Questions by Chris Byrne2 Comments

Clinical Scenario  A 35-year-old woman presents to the emergency department with severe, generalized abdominal pain. She has had two prior visits in the past ten days with discharge diagnoses of “abdominal pain, not yet diagnosed”. As you try to clarify the history, the patient begins screaming in apparent severe pain. The patient’s vital signs are: T 36.4, HR 75, BP 121/84, RR 20, SpO2 99% on room air. You have already reviewed the …

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Point of care ultrasound: a hyperechoic future in Med Ed?

In Knowledge Translation by Chris Byrne1 Comment

A little over a year ago, I was working a shift in the emergency department when I noticed an enthusiastic consultant briskly wheeling a portable ultrasound machine to a patient’s bedside.  I introduced myself and asked if I could observe the scan.  Until this point, ultrasound had retained a certain mystique. However, that was quickly erased by a deep, yet efficient, bedside lesson in anatomy, physiology and clinical medicine that left a lasting …