Key Concepts Sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression occur along a continuum and may be completely separate and discordant from one another. Multiple health disparities exist in sexual minority populations, but many of the contributing factors are likely unknown…
Key Concepts Labor and sex trafficking involve the exploitation of a person for labor or commercial sex, respectively, affecting up to 25 million persons worldwide. Human smuggling, a crime in which a person contracts a smuggler to facilitate their illegal…
Key Concepts Changing demography and an evolving culture in the United States are changing emergency medicine practice as disparities in health and health care delivery continue, despite efforts to improve care. Emergency department interventions should focus on social determinants of…
Key Concepts The emergency department (ED) should develop a written plan of action to deal with violence that integrates the roles and activities of ED staff, hospital administration, security, and local authorities. ED staff should be trained to recognize potentially…
Key Concepts Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States (US), as well as much of the world, with nearly 40% of American adults classified as obese. Obesity results in several physiologic changes including aberrations to lung physiology and…
Key Concepts The solid organ transplant recipient’s altered anatomy, denervated allograft, and immunosuppression frequently result in atypical disease presentations both related and unrelated to the transplanted organ. An understanding of the solid organ transplant recipient’s altered anatomy, including vascular and…
Key Concepts Immunocompromised patients who present with acute infections, especially those that are neutropenic, may appear deceptively benign initially. Their symptoms and signs often mimic noninfectious complications. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are indicated after obtaining appropriate cultures of all potential sites of…
Key Concepts Elder mistreatment, which includes physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, emotional/psychological abuse, abandonment, financial/material exploitation, and self-neglect, is common and may have serious medical and social consequences. Elder mistreatment is under-recognized by emergency clinicians and under-reported to the authorities.…
Key Concepts Those with a chronologic age of 65 years or older are commonly referred to as older adults (or the elderly), but physiologic age is more indicative of a drug’s therapeutic or toxicologic effect. Besides age, overall patient assessment…
Key Concepts Do not let a low-impact mechanism, patient cognitive impairment, or vital signs within the range of normal reduce your pretest probability of significant injury in an older patient. Age-specific trauma alert criteria improve the care of injured older…