Two million people suffer a burn-related injury every year in the United States. The American Burn Association (ABA) estimates that almost 500,000 of these patients received medical evaluation and treatment in 2014 and approximately 40,000 required hospitalization. According to the…
Incision and drainage (I&D) procedures ( Videos 37.1 – 37.5 ) in the emergency department (ED) are most commonly performed for soft tissue abscesses ( Fig. 37.1 ). The total number of ED visits increased from 90 million to 115…
Evaluation and Diagnosis A foreign body (FB) is any substance that is not naturally part of the body. These cases are common in the clinical setting. An FB should be suspected whenever the skin is broken. A thorough history and…
Wound Tape Surgical tape strips are now routinely used to close simple wounds. Tape strips can be applied by health care personnel in many settings, including emergency departments (EDs), operating rooms, clinics, and first aid stations. Advantages include ease of…
Management of acute traumatic wounds is one of the most common procedures in emergency medicine. Although many aspects of traumatic wound management remain controversial, the clinician can follow some basic principles to maximize the chance for successful healing. The purpose…
Procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA) refers to the use of analgesic, dissociative, and sedative agents to relieve the pain and anxiety associated with diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. PSA is an integral element of emergency medicine residency and pediatric emergency medicine…
Clinical use of intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA) has been well established as a safe, quick, and effective alternative to general anesthesia in selected cases requiring surgical manipulation of the upper and lower extremities. Though historically relegated to the operating room,…
Virtually every peripheral nerve can be blocked at some point along its course from the spine to the periphery ( Videos 31.1 to 31.14 ), but digital nerve blocks (e.g., fingers and toes) are more commonly used than proximal blocks.…
Emergency physicians encounter patients with dental pain, facial lacerations, and other injuries of the head on a regular basis. The assessment of these injuries can be both time consuming and painful. Thankfully, regional anesthesia for these conditions is easy to…
Local anesthetic agents are important tools used in the everyday practice of emergency medicine. This chapter describes the mechanism of action, the nuances of clinical use, and the adverse reactions to anesthetics that are commonly used in the emergency department…