Acute Exacerbation of COPD.

Audience: This case is targeted to emergency medicine residents of all levels. Introduction: Shortness of breath (SOB) is one of the top ten most common chief complaints seen in the Emergency Department, accounting for close to 10% of presenting complaints.1 An acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is a frequent culprit, accounting for roughly 15.4 million visits and 730,000 hospitalizations per year.2 The diagnosis of treatment of mild to moderate AECOPD can be relatively uncomplicated; however, multiple factors can increase the complexity of management and pose additional challenges that the emergency physician (EP) must be prepared for. Severe AECOPD can necessitate the need for both Non-invasive positive pressure ventilator (NIPPV) such as bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) as well as emergent intubation. Furthermore, managing the ventilator settings in patients with an AECOPD is far from routine, requiring an intricate understanding of pulmonary physiology.3. Educational Objectives: By the end of this simulation, learners will be able to (1) assess for causes of severe shortness of breath, (2) manage severe COPD exacerbation by administering appropriate medications, (3) identify worsening clinical status and initiate NIPPV, (4) assess the causes of hypoxia after establishing endotracheal intubation and, (5) identify indication for needle decompression and perform chest tube thoracostomy. Educational Methods: This simulation was conducted with a high-fidelity mannequin with a separate low fidelity chest tube mannequin that allowed for hands-on practice placing a chest tube. A total of 16 PGY-1 residents participated in the simulated patient encounter. Research Methods: Following the simulation and debrief session, all residents were sent a Likert scale survey via surveymonkey.com to assess the educational quality of the simulation. The survey contained the following questions; 1) Overall, this simulation was realistic and could represent a patient presentation in the Emergency Department, 2) Overall, the case contained complexity that challenged me as a learner, 3) This case helped to expand my medical knowledge, 4) I feel more confident in diagnosing and treating AECOPD, 5) I feel more confident in recognizing the indications for NIPPV and intubation, 6) This simulation offered an opportunity to improve my procedural skills, 7) I feel more confident in setting up the ventilator, 8) I feel more confident in addressing ventilator alarms. Results: Following the simulation and debrief session, all the participants (n=16), were provided a survey to assess the educational quality of the simulation. There were a total of 12 respondents and a hundred percent of them agreed or strongly agreed that the case contained complexity that challenged them. All of the respondents agreed that the simulation case was realistic and that the case helped expand their medical knowledge. Furthermore, all the learners agreed or strongly agreed that the case helped them in improving their procedural skills. Discussion: This case combines a mixture of high fidelity and medium fidelity components to encompass both clinical knowledge and procedural skills. This case is effective in expanding beyond the basic approach to managing an AECOPD patient and forces learners to address clinical deterioration, escalate airway interventions, manage ventilator settings, and address ventilator alarms, including placement of a chest tube. Residents commented that this case was very realistic and particularly challenging because it highlighted gaps in their clinical knowledge and procedural skills. Residents were most challenged by identifying when to escalate care as well as how to manage ventilator settings in AECOPD patients. Topics: Acute exacerbation COPD, intubation, positive pressure ventilation, ventilator alarms, chest tube thoracostomy.

Review of Cardiac Malpractice Cases Involving a Trainee.

Lawsuits involving medical trainees are underappreciated and poorly documented, including within cardiology-related fields. The purpose of this review was to characterize clinical characteristics and legal outcomes of cardiology- and cardiac surgery-related lawsuits involving trainees. Westlaw, an online legal research database containing legal records from around the United States, was retrospectively reviewed for malpractice cases involving medical students, residents, or fellows through November 2020. Cases included both cardiac and cardiac surgery cases. A total of 28 cases were identified, with 16 involving female patients (57%). In the 17 cases in which patient age was included, the median age was 51 years. A total of 22 (79%) cases resulted in death or permanent disability. The most common alleged errors included procedural issues (n = 14, 50%) and failure to diagnose (n = 7, 25%). A total of 14 cases (50%) ended in favor of the physicians, 9 (32%) ended in a settlement or verdict against the physician, and 5 cases had an unknown outcome. Of the 8 cases in which the settlement or verdict amount was reported, the median payment was $1,291,992 with a range of $220,507-$30,000,000. This review of cardiac and cardiac surgery malpractice cases involving a trainee suggests trainee involvement in procedures and diagnosis may confer relatively high liability risks for both trainees and their supervisors.

Crosstalk between the immune system and neural pathways in interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome.

Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome (IC/BPS) is a condition causing intense pelvic pain and urinary symptoms. While it is thought to affect millions of people and significantly impair quality of life, difficulty with diagnosis and a lack of reliably effective treatment options leave much progress to be made in managing this condition. We describe what is currently known about the immunological and neurological basis of this disease, focusing on the interactions between the immune and nervous system. Evidence for immune involvement in IC/BPS comes from its high co-occurrence with known autoimmune diseases, altered cytokine profiles, and immune cell infiltration in patients. These cytokines have the ability to cross-talk with the nervous system via NGF signaling, resulting in hyper-sensitization of pain receptors, causing them to release substance P and creating a positive feedback loop of neuroinflammation. While it seems that the crosstalk between the immune and nervous system in IC is understood, much of the information comes from studying other diseases or from animal models, and it remains to be confirmed in patients with the disease. Identifying biomarkers and confirming the mechanism of IC/BPS are ultimately important for selecting drug targets and for improving the lives of patients with this disease.