How Long to Observe After Severe Allergic Reaction (Anaphylaxis)?

A severe allergic reaction affecting multiple different body systems is known as anaphylaxis . Such anaphylactic reactions adversely affect the skin/mucosa, breathing, gastrointestinal, heart rate, and blood pressure. The key thing to remember is that an "ordinary" allergic reaction is localized whereas anaphylaxis is general affecting beyond one body system. With anaphylaxis, epipen administration is one of the first and BEST intervention. Other complementary medications to t…

9/24/2017 0

Continue Reading

Bleeding After Tonsillectomy (Pictures)

Bleeding after Tonsillectomy (circa 2010) 5 years old patient Bleeding after tonsillectomy is a very rare, but potentially life-threatening event. The often quoted probability of bleeding after this surgery is 1 in 1000 . Many surgeons have statistics much better than this. I like to consider myself in this "better" group. But... no matter how good you are, if enough tonsillectomies are performed, statistically, a significant bleed after tonsillectomy will occur at some point no…

3/06/2015 4

Continue Reading

Death From a Severe Nosebleed

Image by RIs from Wikipedia Attila the Hun was one of the most feared enemies of the Roman Empire. Ruler of the Huns from the year 434 until his death in 452, his empire stretched from Ural River to the Rhine River and from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea. Although there are numerous theories as to how he died, the conventional account is that he died from a severe nosebleed on his wedding night. Some may scoff that only people in historical times die from nosebleeds ... but it …

7/30/2013 0

Continue Reading

ER Doc Found Negligent in Bell's Palsy Case

This case is not quite what you might think... Here's the background... The Wisconsin State Supreme Court  found an ER physician negligent for failing to offer a carotid ultrasound for a patient who presented with an isolated facial paralysis  (patient did not exhibit paralysis anywhere else in the body) and upheld a $2 million jury award to the patient in 2008. Not only that, the Wisconsin Medical Board reprimanded the ER physician and fined her $300. [ link ] Hmmmm... After all, …

3/22/2013 6

Continue Reading

Forbes Critical of Patient Satisfaction Ratings of Physicians

Forbes on January 2, 2013 published a story critical of Press Gainey and other companies that obtain patient satisfaction scores. Please note that the following is a reprint of prior blog articles ( 2/19/12 and  6/8/12 ) written on this subject by Fauquier ENT. Indeed, much has been made about improving patient satisfaction in the healthcare industry in the belief that greater patient satisfaction equates with better health. To this end, patients are routinely asked to complete a survey b…

1/02/2013 0

Continue Reading

Problem with Medical Protocols (and Lawsuits Because of Them)

Over the past decade working in hospitals, I've seen the proliferation of "established procedures and protocols" for literally everything under the sun... • Chest Pain Protocol • Discharge Protocol • Pneumonia Protocol • Stroke Protocol etc, etc, etc Protocols are essentially standing orders that are supposed to be implemented whenever a given medical situation occurs. It is supposed to follow best evidence-based practices and make it easy for healthcare personnel know w…

11/17/2012 0

Continue Reading