The Case: A 75-year-old male with a history of COPD and CHF presents with worsening shortness of breath over the past 24 hours. EMS states that they heard wheezing on exam and began standard COPD exacerbation treatment, including nebulized albuterol and atrovent and intravenous steroids. When he arrives in your ED after a 45-minute transport, the patient looks sick. His BP is 90/60, HR 118 , he is afebrile and he has an …
Life beyond medicine | Parenting as a resident: A Male Perspective
Editor’s Note: This week we bring your the male perspective on parenting as a resident. -TChan Let me start by saying that my life plan involved going straight through college, and like an old steam engine train, chugging straight through medical school and residency before even thinking about getting married or having children. My logical mind decided that this is what made the most sense. After all, how could I get married or …
Boring Question: How does the sensitivity/specificity of lung ultrasound compare to plain films in diagnosing pneumothorax?
The Case A 74-year-old male with a history of COPD arrived in the emergency department in respiratory distress. On physical examination, the patient was mildly tachypneic and had an oxygen saturation of 93% on a non-rebreather mask. On auscultation, the patient had wheezing and diminished air movement bilaterally. A supine chest radiograph (CXR) was obtained. A short time later, a radiologist called to confirm the presence of a “moderate sized right pneumothorax” (Figure …