Introduction: NSAIDS offer more effective analgesia than opioids, require less rescue medication, and decrease the incidence of nausea and vomiting in renal colic patients. Alpha blockers and Opioids are also prescribed frequently, but doses used and treatment durations are not well described. Our objective was to investigate ED prescribing decisions and medication compliance by patients with acute renal colic. Methods: In this prospective two-city cohort study, we invited patients with a first ED visit for image-confirmed 2-10 mm ureteric stones to consent to a telephone survey 10 days after their ED visit. During follow-up interviews, patients were asked what drugs they were prescribed and how many doses they required. This study was REB approved. Results: A convenience sample of 224 patients, including 152 males (67.9%) and 72 females (median age= 52.4 years) completed 10-day surveys. NSAIDS were prescribed for 48.7%, tamsulosin for 65.2% and opioids for 81.7%. One-third received a tamsulosin-NSAID combination, 40% an opioid-NSAID combination and 28% a tamsulosin-NSAID-opioid combination. Of 109 patients prescribed an NSAID, only 70 (64.2%) took 1 dose/day; however an additional 28 who were not prescribed NSAIDs took 1 NSAID dose/day. Mean (sd) NSAID intake in the overall study group was 1.1 (1.5) doses/day from day 1-5 and 0.6 (1.1) doses/day on days 6-10, with 90%ile values of 3.0 and 2.0 doses/day. NSAID compliance was more common in patients who stated they received high quality discharge instructions (63.8% vs. 32.6%; RR=1.95; 95% CI 1.47-2.60). Mean opioid intake in the overall study group was 1.2 (1.7) doses/day from day 1-5 and 0.5 (1.3) doses/day on days 6-10, with 90%ile values of 4.0 and 2.0 doses/day. Among patients prescribed tamsulosin, the average was 4.0 days of compliance (sd=4.3), with a 90%ile value of 10 days. Conclusion: This study provides estimates for the amount of drug actually used by renal colic patients during the 10-days after their ED visit. Patients used fewer opioid doses than expected, and NSAID and tamsulosin compliance appears relatively poor. NSAID compliance was better in patients who perceived high quality discharge instructions. This study suggests there is room for improvement in medication prescribing and discharge instructions for ED patients with an acute episode of ureteral colic.

This report describes a rare but life-threatening case of a suicide attempt initially considered as intentional overdose at the emergency department. Persistent altered mental status, despite normal toxicology investigations, led the attending team to order a head computed tomography scan, which revealed a bilateral penetrating nail gun injury with a right temporal hematoma for which a decompressive craniectomy was performed. Although voluntary intoxication is the most frequent form of suicide attempt, emergency physicians must be alert and maintain a broad differential diagnosis. Although rare, penetrating head injuries have increased in recent decades. As neurological symptoms can be minimal and penetration wounds small, this type of injury could potentially be overlooked.

Introduction: The accuracy of ultrasound (US) for diagnosing lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in non-pregnant patients has been well validated. However, in pregnant women with suspected DVT and an initial negative US (with imaging of the iliac veins), serial US is recommended. We aimed to determine the ability of single negative US to exclude DVT in symptomatic pregnant women. Methods: Two authors independently reviewed the following databases: MEDLINE, PubMed and EMBase from inception until May 2017. Three authors reviewed all full text papers and data were extracted from included studies by four authors. An overlap among study populations was identified in 4 of the manuscripts, all from one multicentre Canadian study. Two authors performed data re-extraction from the hard copy research charts from this study. We assessed the risk of bias using the CLARITY group tool for prognostic studies. Results: Of 109 potentially relevant articles, 8 studies (7 prospective studies and 1 retrospective) were included. Risk of bias was low for the included populations, and low or moderate for method of measurement and for completeness of follow up. A total of 635 pregnant patients with symptoms of DVT had an initial negative US examination. Of those, 6 had positive DVT during serial US (0.94%) and 3 developed DVT during 3-month follow-up after serial ultrasound (0.47%). Using random-effects model, the pooled false negative rate of a single ultrasound was 1.27% (95% confidence interval, 0.42 to 2.56), I2= 27%. Conclusion: The false negative rate of a single ultrasound with iliac vein imaging for DVT in pregnancy is low. Our results will help inform shared decision making around planning repeat ultrasound scans in these patients.

Recent technological advances allow for instantaneous high quality video and audio recordings with the touch of a button. In Canada, patient privacy is highly regulated by provincial legislation, although patients themselves have little in the way of laws or regulations to observe. Patients taking video recordings of their own medical care does not currently fall under any of the provincial privacy laws. With no such governance for the general public, patients generally have greater freedom to record a patient-physician interaction. Unfortunately, there are no official policies from the provincial physician colleges regarding how best to proceed in these circumstances. Therefore, the onus is on individual hospitals and emergency departments (EDs) to develop their own policy on video recordings. A policy should ideally cover possible recording devices, locations, staff involved, and mandate that a written consent form be included with the patient’s chart. While every request should be considered individually, physicians should generally not feel compelled to agree to the patient recording the clinical encounter. Patients are legally allowed to record a patient-physician interaction without consent of their physician, because the patient can provide the “one-party consent” for the conversation to be recorded. Physicians should accept the possibility that they are being recorded at all times and should strive to communicate as clearly and effectively as possible. Physicians should strive to provide the same level of care that they would even if they were not being recorded, and not let it interfere with their clinical decision-making.

Dual sequential external defibrillation (DSED) is the process of near simultaneous discharge of two defibrillators with differing pad placement to terminate refractory arrhythmias. Previously used in the electrophysiology suite, this technique has recently been used in the emergency department and prehospital setting for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We present a case of successful DSED in the emergency department with neurologically intact survival to hospital discharge after refractory ventricular fibrillation (RVF) and review the putative mechanisms of action of this technique.

Canadian emergency medicine Royal College residency training allows for pursuing extra training in enhanced competency areas. A wealth of enhanced competency training opportunities exist nationally. However, the search for the right fit is a challenging one because there is no centralized resource that catalogues all of these opportunities. A working group of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) Resident Section was assembled in 2016 to create a freely accessible and comprehensive directory of Canadian enhanced competency areas. The working group used stakeholder surveys (of residents, recent graduates, and faculty members), social media engagement, and program website searches. Information was collated into the first edition of a national enhanced competency directory, which is available at no cost at http://caep.ca/sites/caep.ca/files/enhancedcompdoc.pdf. Limitations include the scope defined by the working group and survey responses. A biannual update is also incorporated into the CAEP Resident Section portfolio to ensure it remains up-to-date.

Editor’s note: CJEM has partnered with a small group of selected journals of international emergency medicine societies to share from each a highlighted research study, as selected monthly by their editors. Our goals are to increase awareness of our readership to research developments in the international emergency medicine literature, promote collaboration among the selected international emergency medicine journals, and support the improvement of emergency medicine world-wide, as described in the WAME statement at http://www.wame.org/about/policy-statements#Promoting%20Global%20Health. Abstracts are reproduced as published in the respective participating journals and are not peer reviewed or edited by CJEM.

Sweet syndrome was discovered in 1964 and is now well described in the dermatology literature. Knowledge of this unique febrile and painful dermatosis is important for the emergency physician because the syndrome can be readily identified and is extremely responsive to oral steroid therapy. Early diagnosis can greatly improve patient satisfaction and avoid days of ineffective treatment. An accurate and timely diagnosis of Sweet syndrome is also important to guide investigation into a number of associated diseases.

Introduction: Undertreated pain is known to cause short and long-term harm in children. Limb injuries are a common painful condition in emergency department (ED) patients, accounting for 12% of ED visits by children. Our city has one pediatric ED in a freestanding children’s hospital and 3 general ED’s that treat both adults and children. 68% of pediatric limb injuries in our city are treated in the pediatric ED and 32% are treated in a general ED. A quality improvement (QI) initiative was developed at the children’s hospital ED in April 2015 focusing on “Commitment to Comfort.” After achieving aims at the childrens hospital, a QI collaborative was formed among the pediatric ED and the 3 general ED’s to 1) improve the proportion of children citywide receiving analgesia for limb injuries from 27% to 40% and 2) reduce the median time to analgesia from 37 minutes to 15 minutes, during the time period of April-September, 2016. Methods: Data were obtained from computerized order entry records for children 0-17.99 years visiting any participating ED with a chief complaint of limb injury. Project teams from each site met monthly to discuss aims, develop key driver diagrams, plan tests of change, and share learnings. Implementation strategies were based on the Model for Improvement with PDSA cycles. Patient and family consultation was obtained. Process measures included the proportion of children treated with analgesic medication and time to analgesia; balancing measures were duration of triage and length of stay for limb injury and all patients. Site-specific run charts were used to detect special cause variation. Data from all sites were combined at study end to measure city-wide impact using 2 and interrupted time series analysis. Results: During the 3.5-year time period studied (April 1, 2014-September 30, 2017), there were 45,567 visits to the participating ED’s by children 0-17.99 years with limb injury. All visits were included in analysis. Special cause was detected in run charts of all process measures. Interrupted time series analysis comparing the year prior to implementation at the childrens hospital in April 2015 to the year following completion of implementation at the 3 general hospitals in October 2016 demonstrated that the proportion of patients with limb injury receiving analgesia increased from 27% to 40% (p<0.01), and the median time from arrival to analgesia decreased from 37 to 11 minutes (p<0.01). Balancing measure analysis is in progress. Conclusion: This multisite initiative emphasizing “Commitment to Comfort” was successful in improving pain outcomes for all children with limb injuries seen in city-wide ED’s, and was sustained for one year following implementation. A QI collaborative can be an effective method for spreading improvement. The project team is now spreading the Commitment to Comfort initiative to over 30 rural and regional EDs throughout the province through establishment of a provincial QI collaborative.

Left ventricular outflow tract pseudoaneurysms are a rare but life-threatening disorder, often caused by complications of cardiac surgery or myocardial infarction. We present a case report of a patient with no prior risk factors who presented with a six-month history of progressive exertional dyspnea, bilateral leg swelling and cough. Point-of-care ultrasound revealed an unexpected outpouching of the left ventricle. He was diagnosed with a left ventricular outflow tract pseudoaneurysm and subsequently went into cardiogenic shock secondary to extension of pseudoaneurysm causing extrinsic compression of the coronary arteries. The patient underwent successful emergency surgical repair and made a full recovery.