Archives

Lisfranc Fracture-Dislocation

A 22-year-old intoxicated male presented to the emergency department after jumping from a second-story window, landing on his right foot. He was able to ambulate with a great deal of pain across the dorsum of his foot. Physical examination revealed significant tenderness to palpation over the second metatarsal with minimal edema.

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Retropharyngeal Abscess

A 40-year-old female presented to the emergency department with a one-week history of URI symptoms and a one-day history of more severe throat pain and swelling.

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Retinal Detachment

A 62-year-old Asian male with a past medical history significant for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and prior surgical correction of a retinal detachment of the right eye presented to the emergency department (ED) for further evaluation of an abnormal examination by his optometrist.

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Aortic Dissection

A 42-year-old patient presented with chest pain and shortness of breath. The pain was atypical for cardiac disease, started suddenly, occurred at rest and was non-radiating.

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Clinical Emergency Medicine Algorithms: Vaginal Bleeding in Early Pregnancy (Less than 20 weeks)

  Author Affiliation Chris Feier, MD Department of Emergency Medicine, Keck School of Medicine University of Southern California INTRODUCTION “Clinical Emergency Medicine (EM) Algorithms” was born out of my frustration with the educational process in medicine. Throughout medical school, professors teach us by a disease-based system. We read textbooks and learn about Takayasu’s Arteritis andDiphyllobrohtium […]

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Loss of Digits after Trauma in a Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

A 19-year-old female with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) presented with ischemia of her left hand following trauma. Medical therapy was initiated but failed to improve her symptoms, and revision amputation was ultimately performed. The patient’s final diagnosis was digital ischemia due to secondary Raynaud’s Phenomenon (RP). The authors discuss diagnosis, complications, and treatment of this relatively uncommon disorder. The authors report this case in order to discuss how secondary RP can be complicated by ischemia and the multidisciplinary approach that needs to take place to prevent the latter from occurring.

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EKG Criteria for Fibrinolysis: What’s Up with the J Point?

  Author Affiliation Joseph Brownfield, MD Department of Emergency Medicine, Keck/USC School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA Mel Herbert, MD Department of Emergency Medicine, Keck/USC School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA INTRODUCTION Reading EKGs is an integral skill in Emergency Medicine, especially given the fact that determining the presence and amount of ST segment elevation […]

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Wide Complex Tachycardias: Understanding this Complex Condition: Part 1 – Epidemiology and Electrophysiology

  Author Affiliation Gus M. Garmel, MD Stanford University School of Medicine/Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara INTRODUCTION Patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with electrocardiograms (ECGs) indicating wide complex tachycardias (WCTs) are difficult to manage. Furthermore, these ECGs are often challenging to interpret.1,2 Patients typically have ongoing chest discomfort, with or without symptoms of dyspnea, lightheadedness, […]

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Ten Solutions for Emergency Department Crowding

  Author Affiliation Robert W. Derlet, MD University of California, Davis School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine John R. Richards, MD University of California, Davis School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine INTRODUCTION Over the past decade, emergency department (ED) crowding has occurred and progressed. It has become a major topic of discussion at […]

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Combining Ketamine and Propofol (“Ketofol”) for Emergency Department Procedural Sedation and Analgesia: A Review

  Author Affiliation Sanjay Arora, MD Department of Emergency Medicine, Keck/USC School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA INTRODUCTION Emergency physicians must be comfortable and confident in providing safe and effective procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA). Goals of PSA include providing an adequate level of sedation while minimizing pain and anxiety, maximizing amnesia, minimizing the potential […]

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Adaptation of Predictive Models to PDA Hand-Held Devices

Prediction models using multiple logistic regression are appearing with increasing frequency in the medical literature. Problems associated with these models include the complexity of computations when applied in their pure form, and lack of availability at the bedside. Personal digital assistant (PDA) hand-held devices equipped with spreadsheet software offer the clinician a readily available and easily applied means of applying predictive models at the bedside. The purposes of this article are to briefly review regression as a means of creating predictive models and to describe a method of choosing and adapting logistic regression models to emergency department (ED) clinical practice.

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Contact Information

WestJEM/ Department of Emergency Medicine
UC Irvine Health

3800 W Chapman Ave Ste 3200
Orange, CA 92868, USA
Phone: 1-714-456-6389
Email: editor@westjem.org

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WestJEM
ISSN: 1936-900X
e-ISSN: 1936-9018

CPC-EM
ISSN: 2474-252X

Our Philosophy

Emergency Medicine is a specialty which closely reflects societal challenges and consequences of public policy decisions. The emergency department specifically deals with social injustice, health and economic disparities, violence, substance abuse, and disaster preparedness and response. This journal focuses on how emergency care affects the health of the community and population, and conversely, how these societal challenges affect the composition of the patient population who seek care in the emergency department. The development of better systems to provide emergency care, including technology solutions, is critical to enhancing population health.