Clinical Question: Role of Contrast in Abdominal CT for Adult Patients presenting with Acute Abdominal Pain A 73-year-old male presents to your Emergency Department with vague LLQ abdominal pain. Your differential includes stones/pyelonephritis, diverticulitis, obstruction, and neoplasm. You want a CT scan to assist in diagnosis. A colleague mentions you need oral contrast to diagnose obstructions, and intravenous contrast to diagnose diverticulitis but intravenous contrast hinders the diagnoses of stones. What is the …
HiQuiPs: Virtual Care and Equity Part 1- Introduction to Digital Inequity
You are a Nurse Practitioner with a practice in a COVID-19 hotspot. The pandemic has forced you to transition into providing virtual care. You are wrapping up your last telemedicine visit of the morning. Your patient is an 80-year-old Chinese female with a possible skin infection. Her granddaughter is with her and translates for you as you run through your HPI questions. Your patient’s granddaughter has a smart phone, and she positions the …
CJEM Visual Abstract: Evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of point-of-care ultrasound for cholelithiasis and cholecystitis in a Canadian emergency department
In this issue, we collaborated with the CJEM team to create a visual abstract on the article ‘Evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of point-of-care ultrasound for cholelithiasis”.1 Cholelithiasis and cholecystitis are conditions that are frequently encountered in the emergency department. The gold standard in their diagnosis is via comprehensive ultrasound by radiology. However, there are many barriers to quickly obtaining this diagnostic imaging. In this study, Sharif et al. sought to evaluate the diagnostic …
Introducing the 2021 CanadiEM Infographics Team
The CanadiEM Infographics Team has recruited some new members! Our team now consists of 17 talented medical students, residents, and physicians. We strive to create helpful infographics that display EM knowledge in a digestible format. To showcase the talent of our new members, we tasked them with creating some team infographics! Over the last year, our team has been involved in projects including: (CJEM) Visual Abstracts, CRACKCast Visual Flashcards and PEM Pearls. We …
HiQuiPs: Expert’s Corner – Dr. Aikta Verma on Quality Improvement Leadership
HiQuiPs is back with another installment of Expert’s Corner! For this post, we had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Aikta Verma about quality improvement (QI) and quality culture in the Emergency Department (ED). Dr. Verma is the Chief of the Department of Emergency Services at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She completed a Masters of Health Sciences in Health Administration with a specific interest in QI. She is also an Assistant Professor at …
Outlander Case Report: Penetrating Penile Trauma
Case Presentation The year is 1743, and a complicated love story involving two passionate relationships with one woman, Claire, unravels. Her two lovers, Frank Randall and Jamie, find themselves in sword combat, fighting over their one true love. Unfortunately, despite putting up a good fight, Randall finds himself struck in his genitals during the duel. After rushing to the hospital via horse-drawn carriage, Randall presents with a penetrating penile injury to the ED. …