The literature on antibiotic prophylaxis for traumatic wounds is usually poor and tends to be left to EM physician gestalt or subspecialty preference. In the case of someone without access to subspecialist consultation in a young, healthy patient, understanding the literature may help us decrease our antibiotic prescribing and become better antibiotic stewards. Here, we review some common clinical conditions in which the ED physician may feel comfortable giving or not giving antibiotics using an evidence-based approach.
Jose Reyes, MD
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Evaluation of retroperitoneal trauma can be difficult with clinical exam alone. This is further daunting for the emergency physician given the cavity can hold enough blood to result in significant morbidity and mortality. Here you will find a discussion of the evaluation of retroperitoneal trauma.
Rikki Hall, MS4
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49-year-old male with no significant past medical history presented to the ED for progressive neck pain and bilateral upper extremity weakness in a cape-like distribution for 6 months, worsening over the past week. Notably, the patient was in a motorcycle accident in a foreign country 6 months earlier, when he was struck from behind and ejected from his vehicle, landing on his left side. He states that he lost consciousness for 3 minutes at the time of injury, and he received MR imaging of his cervical spine at that time that was unremarkable for acute pathology. He was discharged to home and received no further neurological follow-up following the injury.
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