A 46-year-old woman was brought to the emergency department after having been found stabbed at home. A 25 cm long knife was stuck on the anterior left chest, over the cardiac area approximately between the sternum and the midclavicular line on the fifth intercostal space. Two further deep wounds were on the left chest 3–4 cm above the knife along the midclavicular line and on the left hypocondr...

A 37 year old male with past medical history of HIV (unknown CD4+ count and viral load, on HAART with questionable compliance), IV drug abuse, presented to ER with complaints of three day cough productive of yellow/ brownish sputum, subjective fevers, chills, chest pain aggravated by coughing and deep breaths, diarrhea, vomiting. He reported being in contact with people who had flu. Vitals show...

Thirty-eight-year-old lady, mother of two children, came to OPD with history of cyclic pain in the perineal region which was gradually increasing in intensity and duration for 1 year. Pain was intense in last 4 months. Pain was related to her menstrual cycles. She also gave history of itching over perineal region. She delivered her first child 10 years back with right mediolateral episiotomy fo...

INTRODUCTION Corticosteroids are used in various clinical conditions that include many immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Different side effects were described including cardiac arrhythmias. Most of those arrhythmias were in the form of bradycardia which usually occurs with high intravenous steroid doses. More significant arrhythmias and cardiac arrest were also described. In this report we...

Intravital microscopy (IVM) is a well-established technique by which tissues can be imaged at (sub)cellular resolution in living animals. By visualizing various cell types, non-cellular structural factors (extracellular matrix), f luorescently-tagged proteins or f luorescent biosensors over time, many dynamic (patho)physiological processes can be investigated. For example, intravital imaging of...

BACKGROUND The harmful effects of smoking have been well-documented in the medical literature for decades. To further the support of smoking cessation, we investigate the effect of smoking on a less studied population, the trauma patient. METHODS All trauma patients admitted to the surgical intensive care unit at the LAC + University of Southern California medical center between January 2007 ...

BACKGROUND To determine whether a computerized clinical documentation system (CDS): 1) decreased time spent charting and increased time spent in patient care; 2) decreased medication errors; 3) improved clinical decision making; 4) improved quality of documentation; and/or 5) improved shift to shift nursing continuity. METHODS Before and after implementation of CDS, a time study involving nur...

Background: The use of vasoconstrictive drugs like vasopressin in major surgeries like hysterectomy can decrease the morbidity of the patient by controlling the intra-operative blood loss. Materials and Methods: About 80 patients undergoing elective vaginal hysterectomy were selected for the study. They were divided into two groups, in which vasopressin in diluted form was injected pre-operativ...

To cite: Neelakantan S, Jose W, Cicilet S, et al. BMJ Case Rep Published online: [please include Day Month Year] doi:10.1136/bcr-2016215708 DESCRIPTION A 13-year-old boy presented to the emergency department, with a history of blunt abdominal trauma. On examination, epigastric tenderness with regional guarding was noted. His vitals were stable. An initial screening transabdominal ultrasound sho...

THE CASE The patient is a 27-year-old previously healthy male with a diagnosis of viral encephalitis with a lymphocytic pleocytosis on cerebrospinal fluid examination. For 3 months, he has been in status epilepticus (SE) on high doses of barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and ketamine and a ketogenic feeding-tube formula. He remains in burst suppression on continuous electroencephalography (EEG). H...