Items tagged “emergency”
44 results found






Article
Pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism (PE) refers to embolic occlusion of the pulmonary arterial system. The majority of cases result from thrombotic occlusion, and therefore the condition is frequently termed pulmonary thromboembolism which is what this article mainly covers.
Non-thrombotic pulmonary embolus sou...
Article
Scaphoid fracture
Scaphoid fractures (i.e. fractures through the scaphoid bone) are common, in some instances can be difficult to diagnose, and can result in significant functional impairment.
Epidemiology
Scaphoid fractures account for 70-80% of all carpal bone fractures 1. Although they occur essentially at a...
Article
Raccoon eyes sign (base of skull fracture)
Raccoon eyes sign (or panda eyes in the UK and Ireland) refers to periorbital ecchymosis with sparing of the tarsal plate 3 and is a physical examination finding indicative of a base of skull fracture of the anterior cranial fossa.
However it is not pathognomonic for trauma, and there are sever...
Article
Pericarditis
Pericarditis is defined as inflammation of the pericardium. It is normally found in association with cardiac, thoracic or wider systemic pathology and it is unusual to manifest on its own.
Epidemiology
Associations
camptodactyly arthropathy coxa vara pericarditis syndrome
Clinical presentati...
Article
Pneumopericardium
Pneumopericardium represents gas (usually air) within the pericardium, thus surrounding the heart.
Pathology
Etiology
Underlying causes include:
positive pressure ventilation
thoracic surgery/pericardial fluid drainage
penetrating trauma
blunt trauma (rare)
infectious pericarditis with ...
Article
Cardiac tamponade
Cardiac tamponade is the result of an accumulation of fluid, pus, blood, gas, or benign or malignant neoplastic tissue within the pericardial cavity, which can occur either rapidly or gradually over time, but eventually, results in impaired cardiac output.
This is to be distinguished from a per...
Article
Gallbladder perforation
Gallbladder perforations are a serious complication of acute cholecystitis and represent an advanced stage of the disease. They tend to occur in an elderly and/or comorbid demographic and carry higher rates of morbidity and mortality.
Clinical presentation
Symptoms and clinical signs are varia...
Article
Emergency CT head (mnemonic)
A useful mnemonic which is used to read an emergency head CT scan is:
Blood Can Be Very Bad
Mnemonic
Using a systematic approach will help to ensure that significant neuropathology will not be missed.
B: blood
look for epidural hematoma, subdural hematoma, intraparenchymal hemorrhage, intra...
Case
Ruptured renal artery aneurysm managed with autotransplantation

Diagnosis certain
Published 10 Mar 2013
98% complete
CT
Article
Acute vs chronic ischemic stroke (CT)
Differentiating between acute and chronic infarction on a CT brain is an important skill for many health professionals particularly in the emergency setting:
pathology
acute: cytotoxic edema
chronic: encephalomalacia; Wallerian degeneration
hypoattenuation
acute: more dense than CSF
chroni...
Article
Elbow joint effusion
An elbow joint effusion is a key finding to recognize on an elbow radiograph and should be used as a trigger to search for a fracture.
Finding an effusion
Recognizing an elbow joint effusion on lateral radiographs is an essential radiology skill. While the fluid itself is not discretely seen...
Article
Retroperitoneal hemorrhage
Retroperitoneal hemorrhage can be a source of significant yet occult blood loss.
Terminology
Some articles conflate and/or confuse retroperitoneal hemorrhage and Wunderlich syndrome 5. However Wunderlich syndrome refers primarily to bleeding around the kidney, not the retroperitoneum in genera...
Article
Abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) rupture is a feared complication of abdominal aortic aneurysm and is a surgical emergency. It is part of the acute aortic syndrome spectrum.
Epidemiology
Abdominal aortic aneurysms are common and affect ~7.5% of patients aged over 65 years 6.
Clinical presentat...
Case
Traumatic small bowel injury

Diagnosis certain
Published 04 Nov 2013
83% complete
CT
Article
Right heart strain
Right heart strain (or more precisely right ventricular strain) is a term given to denote the presence of right ventricular dysfunction usually in the absence of an underlying cardiomyopathy. It can manifest as an acute right heart syndrome.
Pathology
Right heart strain can often occur as a re...
Case
L5/S1 disc protrusion

Diagnosis certain
Published 02 Feb 2015
95% complete
MRI
Case
Extradural hemorrhage (teaching)

Diagnosis certain
Published 03 Feb 2015
98% complete
CT
Case
Traumatic brain injury (teaching)

Diagnosis certain
Published 04 Feb 2015
98% complete
Annotated imageCT
Case
Spinal fracture with cauda equina syndrome (teaching)

Diagnosis certain
Published 04 Feb 2015
95% complete
MRIAnnotated imageCT
Case
Right MCA Infarction (teaching)

Diagnosis certain
Published 04 Feb 2015
98% complete
CT