Heather Shepard: A 52-Year-Old Editor With Aching Jaw Pain and a Clicking Sensation

Learning Objectives Learn the common causes of facial pain. Develop an understanding of the unique anatomy of the temporomandibular joint. Develop an understanding of the sensory innervation of the face. Develop an understanding of the causes of facial pain. Develop an understanding of the differential diagnosis of facial pain. Learn the clinical presentation of temporomandibular joint pain. Learn testing options to diagnose facial pain. Learn how…

Tommy Flannagan: A 47-Year-Old Male With Severe Episodic Throat and Ear Pain

Learning Objectives Learn the common causes of facial pain. Develop an understanding of the unique anatomy of the glossopharyngeal nerve. Develop an understanding of the sensory innervation of the hypopharynx. Develop an understanding of the causes of ear pain. Develop an understanding of the differential diagnosis of throat and ear pain. Learn the clinical presentation of glossopharyngeal neuralgia. Learn testing options to diagnose glossopharyngeal neuralgia. Learn…

Brenda Brown: A 66-Year-Old Bookkeeper With Severe, Shocklike Facial Pain

Learning Objectives Learn the common causes of facial pain. Develop an understanding of the unique anatomy of the trigeminal nerve. Develop an understanding of the sensory innervation of the face. Develop an understanding of the causes of facial pain. Develop an understanding of the differential diagnosis of facial pain. Learn the clinical presentation of trigeminal neuralgia. Learn testing options to diagnose facial pain. Learn how to…

Lynn Sparks: A 26-Year-Old Sales Associate With Sharp, Stabbing Pain With Swallowing

Learning Objectives Develop an understanding of the causes of Eagle syndrome. Learn the clinical presentation of Eagle syndrome. Learn how to use physical examination to help diagnose Eagle syndrome. Learn to distinguish Eagle syndrome from other clinical syndromes that cause anterior neck pain. Learn the important anatomic structures in Eagle syndrome. Develop an understanding of the treatment options for Eagle syndrome. Learn the appropriate testing options…

Hattie Harrison: A 77-Year-Old Female With Headache and Jaw Pain

Learning Objectives Learn the common causes of headache. Learn the clinical presentation of temporal arteritis, including the unique symptom of jaw claudication. Learn how to use physical examination to identify physical findings associated with temporal arteritis. Learn to distinguish temporal arteritis from other pathologic processes that may mimic the disease. Learn the complications associated with temporal arteritis. Develop an understanding of the treatment options for temporal…

Shanice Williams: A 52-Year-Old Female With a Severe Headache and a Progressive Alteration of Consciousness

Learning Objectives Learn the common causes of intracranial hemorrhage. Develop an understanding of the clinical presentation of subarachnoid intracranial hemorrhage. Develop an understanding of how the physical findings can help the clinician determine the anatomic location of intracranial hemorrhage. Understand the difference between primary and secondary headaches. Develop an understanding of the role of computed tomography (CT) and CT angiography in the evaluation and treatment of…

Cassandra Elliot: A 29-Year-Old Overweight Female With Constant Headache Pain That Worsens With Valsalva Maneuver

Learning Objectives Learn the common types of headache. Understand the difference between primary and secondary headaches associated with increased intracranial pressure. Develop an understanding of clinical presentation of specific headache types. Develop an understanding of the treatment of specific headache types. Develop an understanding of the differential diagnosis of headaches that increase with Valsalva maneuver. Learn the importance of fundoscopic examination in the diagnosis of headache.…

Amy Lin: A 46-Year-Old Female With Posttraumatic Occipital Headaches

Learning Objectives Develop an understanding of the causes of occipital neuralgia. Learn the clinical presentation of occipital neuralgia. Learn how to use physical examination to help diagnose occipital neuralgia. Learn to distinguish occipital neuralgia from tension-type headache. Learn the important anatomic structures in occipital neuralgia. Develop an understanding of the treatment options for occipital neuralgia. Learn the appropriate testing options to help diagnose occipital neuralgia. Learn…

Christy Stierwalt: A 28-Year-Old Librarian With Postdural Headache Following an Epidural Block for Vaginal Delivery

Learning Objectives Learn the common types of headache. Understand the difference between primary and secondary headaches. Develop an understanding of clinical presentation of specific headache types. Develop an understanding of the treatment of specific headache types. Develop an understanding of the differential diagnosis of postdural headache. Learn how to identify factors that cause concern. Christy Stierwalt Christy Stierwalt is a 28-year-old librarian who is a gravida…

Brooke Johnson: A 30-Year-Old Teacher With Frequent Headaches Involving the Head and Neck

Learning Objectives Learn the common types of headache. Understand the difference between primary and secondary headaches. Develop an understanding of clinical presentation of specific headache types. Develop an understanding of the treatment of specific headache types. Develop an understanding of the differential diagnosis of headache. Develop an understanding of the potential risks of abortive therapy in the treatment of chronic headache. Learn how to identify factors…

Jeff Baker: A 24-Year-Old Medical Student With Severe Episodic Headache Associated With Sexual Activity

Learning Objectives Learn the common types of headache. Understand the difference between primary and secondary headaches. Develop an understanding of clinical presentation of specific headache types. Develop an understanding of the treatment of specific headache types. Develop an understanding of the differential diagnosis of primary headaches. Understand the gender predilection of specific headache types. Learn how to identify factors that cause concern. Jeff Baker Jeff Baker…

Gene Fiback: A 57-Year-Old Accountant With Severe Episodic Unilateral Retro-orbital Headaches With Associated Neurologic Symptoms

Learning Objectives Learn the common types of headache. Understand the difference between primary and secondary headaches. Develop an understanding of clinical presentation of specific headache types. Develop an understanding of the treatment of specific headache types. Develop an understanding of the differential diagnosis of headache. Understand the gender predilection of specific headache types. Learn how to identify factors that cause concern. Gene Fiback Gene Fiback is…

Abby Austin: A 30-Year-Old Administrative Assistant With Frequent Headaches Involving the Head and Neck

Learning Objectives Learn the common types of headache. Understand the difference between primary and secondary headaches. Develop an understanding of clinical presentation of specific headache types. Develop an understanding of the treatment of specific headache types. Develop an understanding of the differential diagnosis of headache. Learn how to identify factors that cause concern. Abby Austin Abby Austin is a 30-year-old administrative assistant with the chief complaint…

Stephanie Ellison: A 32-Year-Old Graphic Designer With Severe Throbbing Left-Sided Headaches

Learning Objectives Learn the common types of headache. Develop an understanding of clinical presentation of specific headache types. Learn to identify prodrome and aura. Develop an understanding of the treatment of specific headache types. Develop an understanding of the differential diagnosis of headache. Develop an understanding of the treatment options for specific headache types. Learn how to identify factors that cause concern. Stephanie Ellison Stephanie Ellison…

Renaldo Saldana: A 58-Year-Old Male With Left-Sided Facial Pain and Rash

Learning Objectives Learn the common causes of facial pain. Learn the common types of painful rashes. Develop an understanding of varicella zoster infection. Learn the clinical presentation of shingles. Develop an understanding of the treatment options for shingles. Learn the appropriate testing options to help diagnose shingles. Learn to identify red flags in patients who present with acute facial pain. Develop an understanding of postherpetic neuralgia.…

Role of the Airway Community

Key Points Airway societies exist to help patient care by improving the quality and safety of airway management practices, as well as disseminating educational and research-related activities through annual meetings (workshops, lectures) and educational forums. Given that there is still significant morbidity related to airway management, airway societies aim to improve patient care by advocating for airway techniques that remain safe for the patient. Use of…

Airway Management and Outcomes Reporting

Key Points Adequate documentation of airway management outcomes supports the goal of never having an unanticipated difficult airway. Parallel documentation of data in different sections of an electronic medical record allows for cross-checking of information, potentially increasing its reliability, but also increasing methodologic confounding if the sources do not agree. Automatization of clinical documentation is a particularly important function of an anesthesia information management system (AIMS)—the…

Airway Research

Key Points Conducting airway research is difficult, partly because of the low incidence of truly difficult airways and the ethics of exposing patients to unnecessary risk (e.g., a randomized controlled trial [RCT] in front-of-neck access). Although a meta-analysis of RCTs may be regarded as the epitome of research (level 1a), there may not be enough RDTs in a certain field to provide meaningful answers. Surrogates for…

Dissemination of Critical Airway Information

Key Points The consequences of a difficult airway (DA) may include minor or major adverse medical events or death, professional liability to the practitioner, and direct and indirect costs to the patient and healthcare system. DA still accounts for the highest percentage of closed claims in anesthesia. The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Practice Guidelines for the DA recommend the following components for dissemination of critical…

Airway Management Education

Key Points Maintaining expertise in airway management is the responsibility of every airway practitioner. This responsibility extends throughout one’s professional career and reaches far beyond the formative years of medical training into lifelong learning to stay competent. The essential ingredients of expertise are the willingness to become an expert, deliberate practice, immediate feedback, problem solving, and evaluation with an opportunity to modify or repeat performance. Traditional…