December 17th, 2009 by Paul Auerbach, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
Tags: Assessment, Broken Neck, C-Spine, Canadian, Cervical Collar, Cervical Spine, Emergency Medicine, EMT, Evaluation, Examination, Neck Brace, Rule, wilderness medicine
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Christian Vaillancourt, MD and his colleagues recently published an article in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine (2009;54:663-671) entitled “The Out-of-Hospital Validation of the Canadian C-Spine Rule by Paramedics.” This rule was originally developed for “clinical clearance” (e.g., without the use of x-rays) of persons with possible cervical spine fracture (broken neck) in alert and stable trauma patients by qualified persons (generally, emergency physicians) in a health care setting (such as an emergency department). This particular study found that paramedics can apply the Canadian C-Spine Rule reliably, without missing important cervical spine injuries.
The Rule, properly applied to an awake and alert injured person for which there is a concern for a cervical spine injury, provides the following direction:
1. If a person has a high-risk factor (age greater than or equal to 65 years; a dangerous mechanism of injury [a fall from an elevation greater than or equal to 3 feet; fall down 5 or more stairs; direct blow to top of head, such as a diving board accident; motor vehicle accident characterized by high speed, rollover or passenger ejection; motorized recreational vehicle accident; bicycle collision]; or numbness/tingling in an arm or leg), then neck immobilization and x-rays are indicated. Read more »
This post, Canadian C-Spine Rule: How To Know If A Neck Is Likely To Be Broken, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Paul Auerbach, M.D..
December 17th, 2009 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Bionic Fingers, Fingers, Physical Medicine And Rehabilitation, ProDigits, Prosthesis, Touch Bionics
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Touch Bionics, a company out of Livingston, UK and Hilliard, Ohio known for its i-LIMB device, is making available a new finger prosthesis system. ProDigits, a customizable platform that can be adapted to the needs of individual patients, provides electronically powered artificial fingers that can grasp and manipulate objects. The new hand can also be used for more advanced tasks such as typing on a keyboard. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
December 17th, 2009 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Research
Tags: Lymph, Lymphatic Malformations, Microcystic Lymphatic Malformations, Otolaryngology, Plastic Surgery, Tongue
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Photo Credit: eMedicine.com
I stumbled across this article while previewing JAMA & Archives CME articles (full reference below). The article gives an overview of lymphatic malformations, noting that both sexes are equally affected, and there is no predilection for any race.
Lymphatic malformations are vascular malformations with an unknown cause. They are estimated to make up 6% of all benign soft-tissue tumors in children. While they may be rare, 50% of all lymphatic malformations are already obvious at the time of birth. Most (90%) are diagnosed by the end of the second year of life owing to clinical symptoms.
About 60% of all lymphatic malformations are found in the head and neck region. Regarding the mouth, the tongue is most commonly affected.
Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
December 17th, 2009 by Harriet Hall, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: Chiropractic, Chiropractic and Osteopathy, Chiropractic Theory, Evidence Based Medicine, False, Journal, Pseudoscience, Science, Subluxation
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An article written by 4 chiropractors and published on December 2, 2009 in the journal Chiropractic and Osteopathy may have sounded the death knell for chiropractic.
The chiropractic subluxation is the essential basis of chiropractic theory. A true subluxation is a partial dislocation: chiropractors originally believed bones were actually out of place. When x-rays proved this was not true, they were forced to re-define the chiropractic subluxation as “a complex of functional and/or structural and/or pathological articular changes that compromise neural integrity and may influence organ system function and general health.” Yet most chiropractors are still telling patients their spine is out of alignment and they are going to fix it. Early chiropractors believed that 100% of disease was caused by subluxation. Today most chiropractors still claim that subluxations cause interference with the nervous system, leading to suboptimal health and causing disease. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
December 16th, 2009 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Cardiology, Communications, Digital, Email, EMR, Hospital Systems, Patients, PHR, Privacy, Security, Technology
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I am fortunate to work at an institution that has a fully deployed electronic medical record (EMR) system that incorporates outpatient physician notes and inpatient notes under one umbrella. By and large, patient care is facilitated since both outpatient and inpatient notes appear simultaneously in the patient’s chart, along side telephone messages and clinical results. While there are plenty of kinks to work out, most of us have to admit that there are huge patient care advantages to such a system.
The system also promotes a secure e-mail service for patients to e-mail their physician and a mechanism to have their results forwarded directly to them. With the ability to empower patients directly, many would consider this as the Utopian model for heath care delivery of the future.
And what could be better? Patients get virtually unlimited access to their health care provider, 24-7. Results are whisked to the patient. Speed. Efficiency. “Green.” It’s all good, right?
Maybe. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
Christian Vaillancourt, MD and his colleagues recently published an article in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine (2009;54:663-671) entitled “The Out-of-Hospital Validation of the Canadian C-Spine Rule by Paramedics.” This rule was originally developed for “clinical clearance” (e.g., without the use of x-rays) of persons with possible cervical spine fracture (broken neck) in alert and stable trauma patients by qualified persons (generally, emergency physicians) in a health care setting (such as an emergency department). This particular study found that paramedics can apply the Canadian C-Spine Rule reliably, without missing important cervical spine injuries.
