EM Conference Pearls (7/26/17)
Check out Take Home PEARLS from today’s Wednesday EM Conference!
Lisfranc injuries
Quick Review of Lisfranc Injuries Lisfranc injures are a spectrum which result in a sprain or complete disruption of the tarsometatarsal joints of the midfoot. They most commonly occur at the base of the 2nd metatarsal with oftentimes subtle or even absent findings on standards x-ray views, especially when they result from low velocity injury. What is mechanism of …
Lunate and perilunate dislocations
A weekend warrior trying to finish up painting that last side of the house takes a tumble off his ladder and lands on his left hand. He has a palpable deformity on the volar aspect of the distal radius and painful active and passive ROM but is otherwise neurovascularly intact with no median nerve neuropathy. The …
Fat embolism syndrome
Typically when we start talking about anything related to fat embolisms our minds go immediately to trauma and long bone fractures as the cause, but this isn’t always the case. The constellation of signs and symptoms of respiratory insufficiency, neurologic dysfunction and petechial rash which are typically associated with fat embolism syndrome can also be caused by pancreatitis, sickle cell disease and liposuction; all of which show up regularly in the Emergency Department. With mortality rates as high as 20%, despite the fact that FES usually doesn’t present for at least 12 hours after the initial event, it should be something that we are aware of.