REBEL Core Cast – Basics of EM – Introduction

Written by EJ Wright, MD
This post first appeared on REBEL Cast

Welcome to the EMRA Basics of Emergency Medicine Podcast. I am your host EJ Wright, and the following series is an all encompassing approach to the most common chief complaints in the ED based on the well known EMRA Basics of Emergency Medicine, A Chief Complaint-Based Guide. Each cast will highlight myself and a guest attending physician as we take new learners through the differentials, red flags, physical exam findings, and a sample presentation that you need to know to treat patients in the ED.

Case of the week COW #11

CC: Can’t see for 2 months HPI: 10 year old male with no significant past medical history presents to the Emergency Dept. complaining of painless vision loss in the right eye for 2-3 months. Patient states he has been having difficulty seeing out of his right eye for 2 months despite changing positions in class, …

Brain pus

Having pus in your brain is a problem no matter how you cut it, but finding it in there can be a challenge. While the classic triad is usually fever, headache and a focal neuro deficit, this isn’t always present. Dave Traficante (@davetraf) just published a pretty cool case of bifrontal brain abscesses in the International Journal of Emergency Medicine of a gentlemen with this very problem. Interestingly, he didn’t have any focal neuro deficits, but he did have a very flat affect and could care less of the pus accumulating in his brain which coincided with the frontal lobe location of his abscesses.