Hepatic Artery Rupture in a Young Man with Abdominal Pain and a Testicular Mass.

BACKGROUND: Male patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with abdominal pain accompanied by a testicular mass should be evaluated for the presence of hernia, epididymitis, orchitis, and testicular torsion. When a patient presents with an asymptomatic testicular nodule or mass, the emergency physician should consider testicular carcinoma, a diagnosis that typically warrants no more than prompt urologic outpatient referral. CASE REPORT: We present a case involving a young male whose presenting complaint was abdominal pain. Despite his reluctance to initially discuss any genitourinary (GU) complaints, careful questioning and thorough examination revealed a large left testicular mass. Despite having a benign abdomen, the patient experienced a rapid clinical deterioration in the ED after a previously undiagnosed metastatic lesion to his liver eroded into his hepatic artery. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: This case highlights the importance of performing a GU examination in all patients presenting with abdominal pain and discusses a rare presentation of a relatively common male condition. We also discuss the prioritization of emergent interventions and diagnostic studies specific to this case.

Post-cardiac arrest therapeutic hypothermia: overcoming the barrier of workplace culture and other implementation lessons.

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is associated with improved neurologically intact survival after out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest. Because of its complex multidisciplinary nature, many hospitals in the United States have resisted implementing TH. A post-cardiac arrest (post-arrest) TH program was implemented at a major urban academic medical center. IMPLEMENTING THE THERAPEUTIC HYPOTHERMIA PROGRAM: After initial efforts at TH at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital nearly failed, the leaders restructured the TH program. Key elements included frequent multidisciplinary meetings involving all stakeholders, development of TH protocols and techniques consistent with customary institutional practices, introduction of cooling technology, and implementation of a TH physician rapid response system. RESULTS: During its first 21 months, the program initiated TH on 93 post-arrest patients. Of the 83 patients who achieved goal hypothermia temperature, 30 (36%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 26%-47%) survived to hospital discharge. Care teams successfully managed expected complications. Of two patients with TH-associated coagulopathy, one required TH termination. CONCLUSIONS: The program illustrates key lessons for successful TH program implementation, such as the difficulty of organizing and coordinating complex interventions in complex institutions, the importance of overcoming workplace culture, the value of technology, the need for mid-course corrections, and the advantages of a physician-based rapid response system. Many of these lessons are applicable to any quality improvement intervention.

Serum troponin testing in patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia: outcome after ED care.

Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT), a common dysrhythmia seen in the emergency department (ED), is usually managed without difficulty and with a favorable prognosis. Serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI) testing provides important risk stratification information in certain patients; its use in PSVT patients, however, has not been explored. A retrospective review of consecutive adult ED PSVT patients seen for 21 months was performed. Fifty-four PSVT patients were identified on the basis of International Classification of Disease, Ninth Edition codes and the ED patient log at a university hospital. Three patients were excluded for incorrect rhythm, leaving 51 who were included in data analysis. Thirty-eight patients had at least one serum cTnI value measured. Of those, 11 had a positive result, defined as serum cTnI of more than 0.02 ng/dL. Thirty-day outcomes for these patients were evaluated and showed one ED return, no PSVT recurrences, and no deaths at our regional hospital. In this sample, serum cTnI testing did not identify PSVT patients at risk for poor outcome. Further consideration of the use of this testing modality in the PSVT patient population is recommended.

Hospital-based healthcare provider (nurse and physician) integration into an emergency medical services-managed mass-gathering event.

INTRODUCTION: This report describes not only the implementation of a coordinated emergency medical services-hospital-based healthcare team but also investigates the integration of nurse-physician teams at a mass gathering medical care event. METHODS: A review of resource utilization, patient encounters, and local ED census was performed during this period at a college football stadium. RESULTS: During this 4-year period, 1681 patients presented for medical care during 26 events with a total attendance of 1,544,244 (1.09 patients per thousand attendees [PT]). The majority of patient contacts were for minor complaints (1451, 87.6%), whereas 205 (12.4%) received full evaluations (focused history and physical examination most often with pulse oximetric and electrocardiographic monitoring). A total of 109 patients were transported (4.19 PT), representing 6.48% of all patients. Patient census for the event medical deployment increased from 0.44 PT in 2001 to 1.75 PT in 2004. The number and percent of patients transported also increased between 2001 (0.02 PT, 4.48%) and 2004 (0.12 PT, 6.67%). However, 118 (57.6%) patients who received full evaluations were able to be discharged by a physician, avoiding transport. Chief complaints and management of patients receiving full evaluations were consistent across this period, with altered mental status (52.7%) and chest pain (12.7%) as the most common complaints. Average ED census during this period was found to be significantly higher on event days (176.2) than nonevent days (161.2) (t = 8.04, P < .001), although this produced only a minor impact on the emergent care system. CONCLUSION: This study describes one potential deployment plan for a mass gathering medical event and suggests that the incorporation of physicians into a mass gathering setting may be associated with an absolute increase in patient census and transports, while decreasing the percent of patients transported. The impact on local emergency medical services and ED resources, although not specifically investigated in this study, was likely minimal.

Hepatotoxicity associated with herbal products.

A significant number of herbal products have been associated with hepatotoxicity. Attribution of liver injury to a specific herbal pro-duct may be difficult. There are few clinical or laboratory manifestations that specifically suggest that liver injury is the result of aspecific herbal. Compounding this difficulty is that the patient may have liver disease from another cause, may be consuming other potentially hepatotoxic products, or may be using a contaminated herbal product. The most important clue often is the temporal relationship between initiation of the herbal product and the appearance of liver injury; of equal importance is the resolution of the injury following withdrawal of the herbal product.

ECG patterns confounding the ECG diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome: left bundle branch block, right ventricular paced rhythms, and left ventricular hypertrophy.

The ECG has limitations in the evaluation of the chest-pain patient, including the presence of confounding ECG patterns; the ECG patterns that confound the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction(AMI) include left bundle branch block (LBBB), ventricular paced rhythms (VPR), and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). These patterns produce new ST-segment/T-wave abnormalities, which are the new normal findings in these patients and may lead the clinician astray in two distinct instances: (1) diagnosing ECG change related to acute coronary syndromes (ACS) when the abnormality results solely from the confounding pattern; and (2) not acknowledging the confounding nature of these ECG patterns in the evaluation of potential ACS, thereby placing excessive diagnostic confidence in the ECG. This article highlights the diagnostic dilemma encountered in these confounding ECG patterns; the discussion focuses on the expected ECG abnormalities in these patients and the findings seen in ACS.

Toxicity and drug interactions associated with herbal products: ephedra and St. John's Wort.

Health care providers are being increasingly confronted with the use of herbal medications by their patients. It is imperative that patients be questioned regarding herbal preparation use and that health care providers become familiar with these agents. Research into the active components and mechanisms of action of various herbals is ongoing [350]. Long-range studies need to be performed to follow patients for efficacy or toxicity in chronic use [351,352]. Adverse reactions to herbal remedies should be reported to the FDA MedWatch at http://www.fda.gov/medwatch. As withany therapeutic agent, risk of use must always be weighed against potential benefits.