Not many neonates are delivered in the Emergency Department, but those rare babies who greet the world for the first time under the fluorescent lights of the resuscitation bay are precisely those who warrant urgent and concise communication about their clinical status to our obstetric, paediatric, and neonatologist colleagues. The Apgar score is an assessment tool designed for precisely this kind of communication. Developed by Virginia Apgar, an American obstetrical anaesthesiologist, the Apgar score …
Arts PRN: Why you need art
View PostCRACKCast E099 – Urological Disorders
View PostA letter to my younger self
I recently took an extended vacation at the end of residency, and had some time to reflect upon nearly an decade of medical training. I write this as an letter to my younger, naive self, in hopes that trainees may learn from my experiences. Dear PGY-1 Shahbaz, I have some big news for you: things are going to change. Don’t bother memorizing the SIRS criteria, its going to be gone in a few years. …
How useful is the physical examination in suspected cauda equina syndrome?
Background Cauda equina syndrome (CES) is a syndrome consisting of one or more of the following: (1) bladder and/or bowel dysfunction, (2) reduced sensation in the saddle area (i.e. the perineum and inner thighs), and (3) sexual dysfunction, with possible neurological deficit in the lower limb (motor/sensory loss or reflex change) [1]. The cauda equina is a latin name meaning horse’s tail and represents nerve roots L2 through L5. CES is caused by …