I originally posted this list about 2 weeks ago. I’m moving it to the top of the list to make it easier to find.
Note to myself: I’m going to review all these podcasts over the next days again. And after each review I’ll post a direct link to that Best Case Ever and (probably later) some of the things I want to remember from that case.
Another note to myself: As of Jan 2, 2021, I have reviewed BCE Cases through 63. I’m going to post on them before going on–meaning what I want to remember from each BCE.
Jan 4, 20201 note to myself: I’ve now reviewed the BCE Cases from 62 to 56 and will be posting what I want to remember on those outstanding learning pocasts.
This is the complete list of the Best Case Ever Series from Emergency Medicine Cases as of Dec 29, 2020.
Best Case Ever is a 5-20 minute podcast where an Emergency Medicine Cases guest expert describes a practice changing case, what they learned from it, and clinical pearls and pitfalls you can use on your next shift. Tacit knowledge sharing at it’s best.
BCE 82 Perimortem C-section – The Resuscitative Hysterotomy
In this EM Cases Best Case Ever podcast, Dr. Kari Sampsel, Emergency Physician at Ottawa Hospital and Assistant Professor at University of Ottawa, Medical Director of Sexual Assault and Partner Abuse Care Program guides us through an example of a perimortem C-section – a resuscitative hysterotomy at Janus General. She and Rajiv discuss preparation, indications, the procedure, team dynamics and debriefing for this HALO procedure…
BCE 81 Tension Hydrothorax
Tension hydrothorax is a massive pleural effusion presenting with hemodynamic abnormalities secondary to mediastinal compression. Dr. Allan Shefrin tells his Best Case Ever of a child who presents in shock and discusses the causes of tension hydrothorax, indications for tube thoracostomy for hydrothorax and integration of POCUS into pediatric resuscitation.
BCE 80 Pediatric Respiratory Failure
In this EM Cases Best Case Ever podcast Rajiv interviews Dr. Eric Russell, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Baylor College of Medicine, Pediatric Emergency Medicine attending physician at the Texas Children’s Hospital, and editor at the Human Diagnosis Project. They discuss a challenging case of a pediatric patient who presents with what at first appears to be bronchiolitis…
BCE 79 Pediatric UTI – Choosing Wisely
In anticipation of EM Cases Episode 123 Pediatric UTI Myths and Misconceptions, Dr. Olivia Ostrow, Pediatric Emergency Physician at Hospital for Sick Children, Assistant professor at the University of Toronto and a Medical Safety Leader with an academic focus in quality improvement, discusses a case that exemplifies how indiscriminate work up of pediatric UTI can lead to over-testing, over-treating and even worse outcomes…
BCE 78 Traumatic Cardiac Arrest
In anticipation of EM Cases Episode 118 Trauma: The First and Last 15 minutes with Andrew Petrosoniak, Kylie Bosman and Chris Hicks we have Joe Nemeth, Trauma Fellowship Director at Montreal General and Associate Professor at both McGill University and University of Toronto discussing his Best Case Ever of a teenager who was “stabbed in the box”. Rajiv and Joe discuss preparation for trauma, the role of POCUS in predicting survival in traumatic cardiac arrest, the HOTT mnemonic for reversible causes of trauma arrest and more…
BCE 77 Pulmonary Embolism Workup in Pregnancy
This Best Case Ever elucidates the practical challenges of working up pregnant patients in the ED with a suspicion of pulmonary embolism. Since this recording, the first ever multi-center prospective outcome study looking at the pulmonary embolism workup in pregnancy was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. A suggested algorithm and analysis of the study by Lauren Westafer are provided in these show notes….
BCE 76 Opioid Withdrawal
In anticipation of EM Cases Episode 116 on Opioid Misuse, Overdose and Withdrawal, Dr. Michelle Klaiman, Addictions and Emergency Medicine specialist, tells her Best Case Ever exemplifying how we can positively impact the lives of ED patients for years to come – even when they present with simple, run-of-the-mill diagnoses – by thinking outside the box and doing brief screening and interventions for patients with opioid use disorder. She discusses alternative pain control options as well as the use of suboxone to treat opioid withdrawal and opioid addiction.Best Case Ever exemplifying how we can positively impact the lives of ED patients for years to come, even when they present with simple, run-of-the-mill diagnoses, by thinking outside the box and doing brief screening and interventions for patients with opioid use disorder.
BCE 75 Reuben Strayer’s Agitated Patient
In anticipation of Episode 115 Management of the Agitated Patient, Dr. Reuben Strayer tells the story of the case that got him interested in developing an expertise around management of the agitated patient that includes an important simple pitfall and pearl about physical restraint. It that could prevent a death in your ED…
BCE 74 Coding in the Scanner
In anticipation of EM Cases Episode 113 Diagnosis an Workup of Pulmonary Embolism with Dr. Kerstin DeWit and Dr. Eddy Lang, we have Dr. Peter Reardon telling us his Best Case Ever (Coding in the Scanner) of a young woman who presents with a seizure followed by hemodynamic instability, who codes while in the CT scanner…
BCE 73 Esmolol in Refractory Ventricular Fibrillation
In anticipation of EM Cases Episode 112 on Tachydysrhthmias with Amal Mattu and Paul Dorion, Melanie Baimel tells her Best Case Ever of a previously healthy young man who presents in refractory ventricular fibrillation after receiving multiple single shocks, ongoing chest compressions, several rounds of epinephrine, amiodarone and dual sequence defibrillation without ROSC…
BCE 72 Overinvestigation in Emergency Medicine
With increased access to timely advanced diagnostic testing in ED rational resource utilization is becoming ever more important. In his Best Case Ever Dr. Shabhaz Syed argues that a patient at Janus General who presented to the ED with chest pain, died as a result of overinvestigation, and explains how understanding the factors that contribute to overinvestigation, Baysian theory, diagnostic decision analysis, radiation risk, and teaching “dogma” may help prevent overinvestigation in Emergency Medicine…
BCE 71 Cricothyrotomy and the Value of Simulation Training
In anticipation of EM Cases Episode 110 Airway Pitfalls Live from EMU 2018 with Scott Weingart, we have Dr. Shira Brown tell her Best Case Ever of a pediatric trauma patient who required a cricothyrotomy. She explains how, despite working in a non-trauma center with limited resources, her team was well prepared because of the robust simulation program specifically designed for practicing emergency physicians that she had developed in her region. We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the scalpel-Bougie vs scalpel-finger-Bougie cricothyrotomy techniques and to maintain an optimistic attitude in seemingly futile cases…
BCE 70 Female Urinary Retention – The Return of Carr’s Cases!
Urinary retention is 13 times less common in woman than it is in men, and the differential diagnosis is wide. In this EM Cases Best Case Ever we have the return of Dr. David Carr describing a woman with an unusual diagnosis who presents with urinary retention. We discuss issues around the appropriate use of chaperones and what to do in the situation when you are in over your head…
BCE 69 Necrotizing Fasciitis
In anticipation of EM Cases Episode 109 Recognition and Management of Skin and Soft Tissue Infections with Melanie Baimel and Andrew Morris we have Dr. Morris telling us his Best Case Ever of a nurse that he worked with diagnosed with Necrotizing Fasciitis. We discuss some of the diagnostic pearls for this difficult diagnosis as well as issues around privacy when health care workers become patients at their hospital.
BCE 68 Ectopic Pregnancy Pitfalls in Diagnosis
This month’s EM Cases Best Case Ever podcast features Dr. Catherine Varner, Emergency Physician at Sinai Health System and researcher at Schwartz-Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute (SREMI) discussing the key pitfalls in the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy and ruptured ectopic pregnancy. It turns out that we’re missing the diagnosis more than we’d like to admit. Dr. Varner debunks much of the traditional teaching around ectopic pregnancy so that we can improve our diagnostic skills for this potentially life threatening diagnosis…
BCE 67 Child Abuse – Sentinel Injuries
In anticipation of EM Cases Episode 107 on Pediatric Physical Abuse with Dr. Carmen Coombs and Dr. Alyson Holland, Dr. Coombs tells her Best Case Ever (actually worst case ever) that inspired her to pursue expertise in pediatric physical abuse…
BCE 66 CHD with Bronchiolitis: A Delicate Balance
When patients with known congenital heart disease present to the ED with common illnesses we need to consider how their physiology might alter our approach to those common illnesses. Max Ben-Yakov guides us through his Best Case Ever of a CHD patient who presents with bronchiolitis and gives us some tips on how best to approach these fragile patients in a crisis situation…
BCE 65 Intimate Partner Violence – A Silent Epidemic
I was taken aback when I came across the statistic that approximately every 6 days a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner. Victims of intimate partner violence and domestic violence that we see in the ED typically involve an abuse story of repeated escalating violence over time that ends up in a crisis situation. The woman is often financially dependent on her abuser and has no one to turn to for help. In one of her worst cases ever from Janus General, Dr. Meeta Patel and I discuss the notions that Emergency providers have a unique opportunity to identify patients who are victims of intimate partner violence; that we should begin by thinking of how we can screen every woman of childbearing age about intimate partner violence in a private, safe and respectful way. We describe the quick Partner Violence Screen and finally how to offer supportive, empowering statements and connect your patients with resources like assaulted women’s helpline and shelters in your community…
BCE 64 Salicylate Poisoning
In this EM Cases Best Case Ever Hans Rosenberg and Rajiv Thavanathan discuss recognition and management pearls and pitfalls in salicylate poisoning. They answer question such as: What are the most important diagnostic clues of salicylate poisoning in the patient who presents with undifferentiated fever and altered level of awareness? What is the best timing and ventilation strategy for intubation? Which electrolyte abnormalities do you need to be on the lookout for? and many more…
BCE 63 Failing Up after Medical Error
Dr. Sarah Gray tells us the story of her worst case ever and what she learned from it. About 50% of North American physicians involved in a serious medical error report increased anxiety for future errors, decreased confidence in their job, decreased job satisfaction, insomnia, PTSD, panic disorder – the list goes on. Dr. Gray shares how and why many of us react to medical error – the embarrassment, the shame, the guilt and sense of failure. She then explains the notion of acceptance that we all fail, that perfection is a myth, and how she learned that “failing up” after of the most difficult case of her career is the best choice after making a medical error…
Best Case Ever 62 Penetrating Upper Airway Injury Awake Intubation Do’s & Don’ts
If you were faced with stab wound to the neck and had to act fast, would you have a well-thought out plan that you are comfortable with? In this EM Cases Best Case Ever podcast we discuss the do’s and don’ts of penetrating upper airway injury awake intubation with airway expert George Kovacs….
Best Case Ever 61 Biohazard Preparedness: The Protected Code Blue
In anticipation of EM Cases Main Episode 100 on Disaster Medicine with Laurie Mazurik, David Kollek and Joshua Bezanson, Dr. Mazurik tells of her experience as a disaster medicine leader with keeping health care workers safe during the SARS era. If you were faced with a patient with suspected Ebola or drug resistant TB or any other biohazard patient who required intubation, would you know how to handle the situation so that you and your colleagues were safe…
Best Case Ever 60 What we can learn from Prehospital Trauma Management
In this EM Cases podcast Dr. Joel Lockwood tells his Best Case Ever of a prehospital trauma resuscitation, bringing to light the challenges faced by EMS with the complicated trauma patient. He discusses the importance of checklists, practice and simulation to help streamline the process, offloading some cognitive burden, prepare the team, reduce the change of errors, improve efficiency and etch actions into each team member’s muscle memory.
Best Case Ever 59 Management of Acute Renal Failure with Volume Overload
Sometimes our renal failure patients present short of breath with volume overload and we don’t have immediate access to dialysis. What then? Dr. Mike Betzner, EM doc and medical director of STARS air ambulance service and collaborator on EM Cases CritCases blog tells his Best Case Ever and his approach to this challenging clinical situation. He offers two commonly used solutions: nitroglycerin and BiPAP as well as two not so common solutions: phlebotomy and rotating BP cuffs blown to above SBP…
Best Case Ever 58 Euglycemic DKA
It’s not only run of the mill DKA, starvation and alcoholic ketoacidosis that can cause a metabolic acidosis with elevated ketones. Euglycemic DKA can be caused by the newer diabetes medications sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors like Canagliflozin; and it’s important to recognize this tricky diagnosis early and initiate treatment for DKA despite a normal serum glucose level…
Best Case Ever 57 PREPARE mnemonic for Airway Management
Airway management requires a lot things; it requires not only technical skills and specific considerations of anatomy and physiology but a co-ordinated team who can communicate clearly and react to a whole slew of potentially challenging situations. On this month’s Best Case Ever podcast we use the framework of a new mnemonic PREPARE to discuss human factors, situational awareness and some airway tips and tricks with intensivist Peter Brindley, human factors expert Chris Hicks and EM-intensivist Sara Gray…
Best Case Ever 56 Anion Gap Metabolic Acidosis
In this month’s Best Case Ever on EM Cases Dr. Ross Claybo and Dr. Keerat Grewal tell the story of a patient with a complicated anion gap metabolic acidosis. We discuss how to sort through the differential diagnosis with a better mnemonic than MUDPILES, the controversy around administering sodium bicarbonate for metabolic acidosis, the indications for fomepizole and the value of taking time to to build a therapeutic relationship with your ED patients…
Best Case Ever 55 Pediatric Cerebral Herniation
In anticipation of the upcoming EM Cases main episode on Pediatric Polytrauma Dr. Suzanne Beno, Co-director of the Trauma Program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, tells her Best Case Ever of a child who suffers a severe traumatic head injury with signs of raised intracranial pressure and cerebral herniation. She discusses the importance of being vigilant when presented with classic patterns of injury, the use of hypertonic saline, crisis resource management and shared decision making with consultants…
Best Case Ever 54 Missed Fracture and Apologizing to Patients
In anticipation of EM Cases Episode 91 Knee Injuries Pearls and Pitfalls Dr. Arun Sayal, creator of the CASTED course, tells his Best Case Ever concerning missed fractures and apologizing to patients. Dr. Sayal reminds us of two basic concepts that are all too often skipped over in our assessment of minor injuries and the effect of apologizing to the patient when you’ve missed a fracture…
Best Case Ever 53 – TTP
As EM Cases has grown and expanded over the past 7 years I’ve had the pleasure of working with a team of talented people. This Best Case Ever was produced by two all-star EM residents from Ottawa, podcaster Dr. Rajiv Vairavanathan and editor Dr. Richard Hoang. In this all-resident Best Case Ever we interview Dr. Chris Belcher from University of Kentucky about TTP – Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, that rare but often elusive clotting disorder that picks off multiple organs and has a near 100% mortality rate without treatment…
Best Case Ever 52 – Pediatric Hypothermia Cardiac Arrest
In anticipation of EM Cases Episode 90 on the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) guidelines with the lead author Dr. Allan DeCaen and Dr. Anthony Crocco, Dr. DeCaen tells his Best Case Ever showing us the value of orchestrated team work and a great example of the saying, “they’re not dead until they’re warm and dead”…
Best Case Ever 51 – Anticoagulants and GI Bleed with Walter Himmel
In anticipation of Episode 88 and 89: DOACs Use, Misuse and Reversal with the president of Thrombosis Canada and world renowned thrombosis researcher Dr. Jim Douketis, internist and thrombosis expert Dr. Benjamin Bell and ‘The Walking Encyclopedia of EM’ Dr. Walter Himmel, we have Dr. Himmel telling us the story of his Best Case Ever on anticoagulants and GI bleed. He discusses the most important contraindication to DOACs, the importance of not only attempting to reverse the effects of anticoagulants in a bleeding patient but managing the bleed itself as well as more great pearls. In the upcoming episodes we’ll run through 6 cases and cover the clinical use of DOACs, how they work, safety, indications, contraindications, management of minor, moderate and severe bleeding, the new DOAC reversal agents, management of DVT with DOAC anticoagulants, stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation with DOACs and much more…
Best Case Ever 50 – Delirium Tremens
In anticipation of EM Cases Episode 87 on Alcohol Withdrawal Dr. Sara Gray describes her Best Case Ever of severe alcohol withdrawal and Delirium Tremens from Janus General. Also on this podcast Dr. Anand Swaminathan reacts to Episode 86 Emergency Management of Hyperkalemia and discusses the use of calcium in the setting of digoxin toxicity. Early recognition and treatment of Delirium Tremens – a rapid onset of severe alcohol withdrawal accompanied by delirium and autonomic instability about 3-10 days after the appearance of withdrawal symptoms – is key to preventing long term morbidity and mortality…
Best Case Ever 49 – Post-Arrest Hyperkalemia
Melanie Baimel’s Best Case Ever on Post-Arrest Hyperkalemia on EM Cases. Post arrest patients can sometimes be challenging. We need to think of a variety of underlying causes of the arrest, antiarrhythmics, possible cath lab activation, targeted temperature management, sedation and more. To add to this, many post arrest patients do not have ideal vital signs that require attention. In this Best Case Ever, in anticipation of our upcoming episode on A Rational Approach to Hyperkalemia Dr. Melanie Baimel describes a post arrest patient who remains bradycardic and hypotensive despite multiple pressors….
Best Case Ever 48 – Organic vs Psychiatric Illness
Sometimes what initially appears to be a psychiatric illness turns out to be an organic illness, and vise versa. In our assessment of the patient with altered behaviour, it is critical to drill down and dissect apart the type of hallucinations a patient might be displaying, whether the demented patient is simply suffering from worsening dementia or alternatively has acute delirium (which carries a high mortality rate), and whether their somatic complaints might be due to depression or a psychotic psychiatric illness. In anticipation of our upcoming episode on Medical Clearance of the Psychiatric Patient Dr. Brian Steinhart tells the story of his Best Case Ever, reminding us of some of the clinical clues that can help us in our approach to the patient with altered behaviour, so that we avoid misdiagnosing a psychiatric illness with an organic one, or even worse, an organic illness with a psychiatric one…
Best Case Ever 47 – Cyanotic Infant
In anticipation of EM Cases’ upcoming episode, Congenital Heart Disease Emergencies we have Dr. Gary Joubert a double certified Pediatric EM and Pediatric Cardiology expert telling his Best Case Ever of a four month old infant who presents with intermittent cyanosis. The Cyanotic Infant can present a significant challenge to the EM provider as the differential is wide, ranging from benign causes such as GERD to life threatening heart disease that may present atypically in a well-appearing child. Dr. Joubert gives us some simple sweet clinical pearls to help us along the way…
Best Case Ever 46 – Chris Nickson on Hickam’s Dictum
EM Cases Best Case Ever – Chris Nickson on Hickam’s Dictum. Usually we use the heuristic of Occam’s razor to help us arrive at one diagnosis that makes sense of all the data points that a particular patient presents to us. However sometimes it’s not so straight forward and we need to think about multiple diagnoses that explain a patient’s condition – Hickam’s Dictum. Dr. Chris Nickson, the brains behind the Life in the Fast Lane blog tells his Best Case Ever from the SMACC Conference in Dublin, in which a patient thrombolysed for massive pulmonary embolism suffers a cardiac arrest, and the thought process he went through to discover the surprising complicating diagnoses that ensue…
Best Case Ever 45 – Mike Winters on Cardiac Arrest
I had the great pleasure of meeting Dr. Mike Winters on his first ever visit to Canada at North York General’s Emergency Medicine Update Conference, where he gave two fantastic presentations. His credentials are impressive: He is the Medical Director of the Emergency Department, Associate Professor in both EM and IM, EM-IM-Critical Care Program co-director and Residency Program Director of EM-IM at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. Sometimes we are so caught up with the job we need to get done during cardiac arrest that we forget about the important and profound effect that this event has on patients’ families. On this Best Case Ever Dr. Winters tells the story of witnessing his grandfather’s cardiac arrest, being present in the ED during the resuscitation attempts, and how that experience has coloured his practice. We discuss some pearls on communication with patients’ families after death, colour-coded cardiac arrest teams and how to integrate POCUS into cardiac arrest care while minimizing chest compressions.
Best Case Ever 44 Low Risk Pulmonary Embolism
Dr. Salim Rezaie of R.E.B.E.L. EM tells his Best Case Ever of a Low Risk Pulmonary Embolism that begs us to consider a work-up and management plan that we might not otherwise consider. With new guidelines suggesting that subsegmental pulmonary embolism need not be treated with anticoagulants, exceptions to Well’s Score and PERC rule to help guide work-ups, the adaptation of outpatient management of pulmonary embolism, and the option of NOACs for treatment, the management of pulmonary embolism in 2016 has evolved considerably. In which situations would you treat subsegmental pulmonary embolism? How comfortable are you sending patients home with pulmonary embolism? How does the patient’s values play into these decisions? Listen to Dr. Rezaie provide an insightlful perspective on these important issues and much more…
Best Case Ever 43 Ruptured AAA
I caught up with Dr. Anand Swaminathan, otherwise known as EM Swami, at The Teaching Course in NYC where he told his Best Case Ever from Janus General of his heroic and collaborative attempts at saving the life of a gentleman who presented to the ED with a classic story for a ruptured AAA. As William Olser famously said, “There is no disease more conducive to clinical humility than aneurysm of the aorta.”
Best Case Ever 42 Pediatric Cardiac Arrest
When was the last time you saw ventricular fibrillation in a 4 month old? Dr. Simard tells his Best Case Ever of a Pediatric Cardiac Arrest in which meticulous preparation, sticking to his guns, early activation of the transportation service, and clever use of point of care ultrasound helped save the life of a child. He explains the importance of debriefing your team after an emotionally charged case.
Best Case Ever 41 Opiate Misuse and Physician Compassion
Opiate misuse is everywhere. Approximately 15-20% of ED patients in the US are prescribed outpatient opiates upon discharge. In Ontario, about 10 people die accidentally from prescription opiates every week. Between 1990 and 2010, drug overdose deaths in the US increased by almost four fold, eclipsing the rate of death from motor vehicle collisions in 2009. This was driven by deaths related to prescription opiates, which now kill more people than heroin and cocaine combined. Opiates are the most prescribed class of medication in the US. In 2010, one out of every eight deaths among persons aged 25 to 34 years was opiate-related. Four out of 5 new heroin users report that their initial drug was a prescription opiate. In Ontario, three times the people died from opiate overdose than from HIV in 2011. Yet, we are expected to treat pain aggressively in the ED. Dr. Reuben Strayer, the brains behind the fantastic blog EM Updates tells his Best Case Ever, in which he realizes the importance of physician compassion in approaching the challenging drug seekers and malingerers that we manage in the ED on a regular basis. This Best Case Ever is in anticipation of an upcoming main episode in which Dr. Strayer and toxicologist Dr. David Juurlink discuss how to strike a balance between managing pain effectively and providing the seed for perpetuating a drug addiction or feeding a pre-existing drug addiction, and how we best take care of our patients who we suspect might have a drug misuse problem.
Start at https://emergencymedicinecases.com/podcasts/best-case-ever/page/8/
