Emergency Medicine blog
Clinical teaching and practical ideas for your next study session.
Negative Urine Pregnancy Test, New Hypotension: Keep Ectopic in Play
A negative urine hCG lowers—but does not erase—the chance of pregnancy. When a patient with abdominal or pelvic pain becomes hypotensive and pale, learn when to send serum β-hCG, what bedside ultrasound can show, and why evaluation for bleeding must continue in parallel.
Febrile Neutropenia With a Port: How Paired Cultures Test the Source
Fever and neutropenia with a port do not identify the bloodstream source. Learn how paired port and peripheral cultures can help test catheter involvement without delaying antibiotics or needed source control.
ED Risk Communication MCQs: Turn “Doubles the Risk” Into a Useful Number
Learn to spot when relative-risk wording hides the actual chance of a complication. Translate it into absolute natural frequencies with a shared denominator, then practise explaining what the estimate does—and does not—tell you.
After RSI for Status Epilepticus: Paralysis Is Not Seizure Control
A quiet body after rocuronium does not prove that status has ended. Learn why urgent EEG—not vital signs alone—guides further seizure treatment.
Anaphylaxis MCQs: When Hives and Vomiting Meet Criteria
Normal blood pressure and clear lungs do not rule out anaphylaxis. In board-style stems, the key detail may be whether vomiting is persistent or severe—and which criteria the question uses.
AFE vs Massive PE: Why Early Coagulopathy Matters
In peripartum collapse, amniotic fluid embolism and massive pulmonary embolism can both cause hypoxemia, shock, and right-heart strain. Early overt DIC before blood loss is sufficient to explain it favors AFE—but is not diagnostic by itself.
Aneurysmal SAH: Why SBP <160 Is Not a Universal Target
With an unsecured aneurysm, the ED goal is controlled blood-pressure management—not a reflexive drop to one cutoff. Learn how to balance rebleeding concern, cerebral perfusion, and timely definitive treatment.
AFFIRM Trial: Read the Rate-vs-Rhythm Result Correctly
A board-style AFFIRM question tests how to interpret a long-term strategy trial—not whether rate control is always better. Retrieve the mortality finding and its limits.
Intubated COPD: When to Tolerate Hypercapnia Instead of Chasing PaCO₂
After intubation for severe COPD, the key question is not how fast to normalize PaCO₂, but whether pH, baseline compensation, and clinical trajectory make permissive hypercapnia safer than more ventilation.
Warfarin in Acute Stroke: Keep Reperfusion Moving While INR Is Pending
A warfarin history can hold IV thrombolysis until the INR is known. The ED decision is what continues in parallel: controlled BP management, vascular imaging, and thrombectomy evaluation.
Mechanical Valve or Recent Stent? Frame the Reversal SAQ
A reversal SAQ is not one generic anticoagulation dilemma: a mechanical valve usually means warfarin, while a recent coronary stent usually raises antiplatelet questions. Learn to separate the drug decision from consent, proportionality, and the restart plan.
Septic Patient Transfer for Capacity: Regional Load-Balancing
Moving a septic patient to free a hospital bed is regional patient load-balancing, not intrahospital expansion. Learn how to distinguish an external alternate-care site from another hospital—and why the surge label does not establish that transfer is safe.