Although stroke declined from the third to fifth most common cause of death in the United States, the annual incidence and overall prevalence continue to increase. Since the available US…

The definition of a transient ischemic attack (TIA) has evolved over the past decade from a clinical diagnosis to a tissue-based definition based on neuroimaging results. TIA shares the same…

Coma represents a true medical emergency. Drug intoxications are a leading cause of coma; however, other metabolic disturbances and traumatic brain injury are also common causes. The general emergency department…

The emergent evaluation and treatment of generalized convulsive status epilepticus presents challenges for emergency physicians. This disease is one of the few in which minutes can mean the difference between…

Acute back pain is a common presenting complaint in the emergency department that leads to a great deal of resource utilization. The differential diagnosis is long and most cases are…

Dizziness is a common chief complaint in emergency medicine. The differential diagnosis is broad and includes serious conditions, such as stroke, cardiac arrhythmia, hypovolemic states, and acute toxic and metabolic…

There are a number of dangerous secondary causes of headaches that are life, limb, brain, or vision threatening that emergency physicians must consider in patients presenting with acute headache. Careful…

EMERGENCY MEDICINE CLINICS OF NORTH AMERICA www.emed.theclinics.com Consulting Editor AMAL MATTU November 2016 • Volume 34 • Number 4

SEP-1, the new national quality measure on sepsis, resulted from an undertaking to standardize care for severe sepsis and septic shock regardless of the size of the emergency department where…

Sepsis represents a unique clinical dilemma with regard to antimicrobial stewardship. The standard approach to suspected sepsis in the emergency department centers on fluid resuscitation and timely broad-spectrum antimicrobials. The…