Blunt Chest Trauma Richard L. Byyny Blunt chest trauma (BCT) is a common emergency department (ED) presentation. The trauma can range from the most minor chest wall contusion to catastrophic…

Complications of Tracheostomies Valerie Dobiesz, Samreen Vora, and Carissa Tyo Tracheostomy placement is a mainstay in airway management of critically ill patients. A tracheostomy tube is placed because of mechanical…

Dizziness Jonathan A. Edlow CLINICAL PRESENTATION Dizziness is one of the most common presenting symptoms in emergency medicine (1,2). Misdiagnosis is common, even when patients are evaluated by neurologists (3)….

Traumatic Shock Christopher B. Colwell and Ernest E. Moore Shock is the ultimate consequence of inadequate tissue perfusion, which may be manifested clinically by hemodynamic disturbances or organ dysfunction. At…

Acute Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Carolyn Chooljian CLINICAL PRESENTATION Acute hearing loss (AHL) is defined as hearing loss occurring over 3 days or less and involves the loss of 30…

Blast Injuries David W. Callaway and Leon D. Sanchez During the period from 1996 to 2006 global terrorism-related bombings have increased fourfold with associated injuries increasing nearly eightfold (1). In…

Replantation James L. Larson, Jr Advances in microsurgery have enabled surgeons to perform replantation procedures on almost all parts of the body. Viability is the only one consideration when evaluating…

Blunt Neck Trauma Edward Ullman The majority of blunt neck trauma occurs in conjunction with significant injuries to the head, cervical spine, and face (1). The most commonly reported injury…

The Red Eye Megann Young The red eye is a common emergency department (ED) complaint that may present in isolation or in combination with other ocular or systemic disorders. The…

Abdominal Pain Diane M. Birnbaumer and Daniel P. Runde Abdominal pain is simultaneously one of the most common and challenging chief complaints in emergency medicine. Abdominal pain accounts for 8%…