Back to Basics: Approach to Hyponatremia

Mon, 09/04/2017 - 12:50am

Hyponatremia is defined as Na < 138 mEq/L and occurs in 15-30% of hospitalized patients. Read on for a quick overview of how to approach it and the clinical signs and symptoms to look for!

Submitted by Katie Selman, MD

A Week in Review Aug 28th - Sept 1st

Sun, 09/03/2017 - 10:00am

A high yield summary of this week's posts

Sat, 09/02/2017 - 10:54am

A 20 y/o M arrives to your ED following an assault with a baseball bat...

Submitted by Chad Simpkins, MD

Assessing the Critically-ill Pregnant Patient

Fri, 09/01/2017 - 6:16pm

Remember the mnemonic T.O.L.D. when taking care of critically ill pregnant patients

Submitted by Haney Mallemat, MD

#EMconf: The (Dis)Utility of the Urine Drug Screen

Thu, 08/31/2017 - 12:00pm

The Urine Drug Screen (UDS) is a commonly used test in the emergency department, however there are many shortcomings that limit its diagnostic utility. The Urine Drug Screen is exactly that – a SCREENing and not a confirmatory test! This week Dr. Lauren Murphy educated us on: 1) the potential false positives and negatives of the UDAS and 2) the detection times that drug metabolites are at a concentration in the urine to trigger a positive result (cutoff value). Read ahead for the reference tables!

Submitted by Lauren Murphy, MD