Heterotopic ossification may occur following head or spinal cord trauma, burns, or major surgery on the musculoskeletal system. A heterotrophic bone may cause severe physical impairment by surrounding a joint such as the hip or the elbow and fixing the joint in a nonfunctional position (i.e., contracture). Heterotopic ossification is also very common following open […]
Unstable pelvic fractures include disruption of the ring anteriorly at the symphysis pubis or through a pubic bone and are broadly categorized into three types: anterior-posterior open book pelvic fracture, lateral compression fracture, and vertical shear malgaigne pelvic fracture. Pelvic fractures from blunt force trauma are broadly categorized as either stable or unstable based on
Open book pelvic fracture and Malgaigne pelvic fracture Read More »
Missed injuries, commonly referred to as the trauma surgeon’s nemesis, are an expected occurrence in the management of multiply injured patients. The definition of a missed injury is institution specific. Generally speaking, however, a missed injury is an injury identified at some defined time after the initial assessment. Missed injuries are not frequently life-threatening. However,
Intensive care unit scoring systems or ICU scoring systems like APACHE and SAPS fall into two broad categories. Risk prediction (also called prognostic) models are designed to assess prognosis at the time of admission to the ICU or within the first 24 hours. Severity-of-illness scoring systems are used in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting as tools
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA Act) was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1986 to prevent hospitals from rejecting, refusing, or transferring patients because they are unable to pay or because they have public health insurance. The main purpose of EMTALA Act is to ensure nondiscriminatory patient access to emergency medical
The four most common embolism seen in the critical care patient population are air embolism, fat embolism, cholesterol embolism, and blood embolism (clots). Embolism is an uncommon complication of altered mentation after invasive procedures, but it must be placed on the list of differential diagnoses. Air embolism occurs when air enters the systemic vascular circulation
The astute clinician will recognize that although a common cause of fever in the ICU is infection, many cases are of noninfectious fever. Fever in the intensive care unit (ICU) patient is a common problem that results in the performance of many diagnostics tests. This increases both the costs of medical care and the exposure
Unstable tachycardias can be manifested by chest pain, shortness of breath, decreased urine output, mental status changes, or hypotension. The assessment of a patient with a tachycardia requires a systematic approach. First, the physician must determine whether the patient is experiencing evidence of hemodynamic compromise as a result of the tachycardia, which is generally not
Unstable Tachycardias – narrow complex and wide complex tachycardias Read More »
Chest pain in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a common and potentially serious complaint. The differential diagnosis of noncardiac chest pain is broad, and the physician must not be limited to cardiac etiologies, although myocardial infarction and angina must always be considered. The initial approach to Noncardiac Chest Pain requires a rapid evaluation, history,
If you want to convert MMhg to CMh2o the following knowledge is important for this. Pressure is defined as the force per unit area. It can be applied either to a solid or a liquid interface at a point perpendicular to the surface and is represented by the height of the column that exerts a
