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All posts with tag: "tox"

PEM Questions

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Ketamine has been in the news lately, contributing to the death of actor Matthew Perry and playing a part in the recent successful prosecution of two paramedics for the death of Elijah McClain. 

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A teen living in a state where abortion is newly outlawed ingests something that she has read online is an abortifacient. She presents to the ED with nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Her AST and ALT are elevated, and her acetaminophen level is zero. 

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A 10 year boy was out hiking with his family, several feet ahead of everyone else. He heard a rattle, felt a sharp pain in his leg, and may have seen a snake slither away into the underbrush. He is brought to the ED 40 minutes after the event. On exam, his vitals are normal, and he has a bite mark with 2 punctures on his right calf. There is no surrounding swelling or discoloration, and the compartments are soft. He complains of pain, but no paresthesias.

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Parents bring in a 3 year old child that drank a few sips of household bleach which had been stored by grandparents in an empty coke bottle. 

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You are seeing a 19 year old male who has had several ED visits for abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. He insists that he does not use cannabis at all.

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You are seeing a 15 year old who took a handful of aspirin in a suicide attempt. The salicylate level at 3 hours post-ingestion is 20 mg/dL. Toxicity generally begins at levels of 30 mg/dL and higher. You are certain there were no co-ingestants and the patient’s vital signs, physical exam, metabolic panel, and EKG are normal. 

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As part of the work-up for abnormal behavior in a 3 year old, the qualitative urine drug screen comes back positive for a substance. 

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You are seeing a 15yo patient with past psychiatric history who takes escitalopram (Lexapro) and quetiapine (Seroquel) for nausea and vomiting. You give the patient a dose of ondansetron (Zofran) and an IV fluid bolus, then discharge him home with a prescription for ondansetron. His parent gives him diphenhydramine (Benadryl) before bed to help him fall asleep. He becomes upset and overdoses on one of the medications in the home. 

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A 15yo obese patient is brought in after admitting to taking an overdose of “a handful” of metformin as a suicide attempt. No other drugs were available to the patient and co-ingestion is not suspected. 

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A 16yo patient is brought in directly from a large “pharm” party with altered mental status, respiratory depression, and pinpoint pupils. You suspect opiate overdose and administer naloxone with improvement in spontaneous respirations. To your surprise, however, the qualitative urine drug screen comes back negative for opiates. Which of the following drugs is the patient unlikely to have taken?

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A toddler, visiting for the holidays, has been roaming his grandmother’s large backyard, nibbling on plants. 

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(Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) An adolescent is brought in intoxicated with history of drinking large amounts of alcohol at a dorm party. He vomited multiple times at the scene and on arrival to the ED. Initial labs and CXR are normal except for an ETOH level of 390. He is protecting his airway, arousable with deep stimulation, and hemodynamically stable, so the decision is to observe him on a monitor while he slowly sobers up, and then reevaluate him for discharge. However, 2 hours later he is requiring 5L O2 by non-rebreather to maintain an O2 saturation of 97%. He does not show significant respiratory distress or apnea, and a venous blood gas does not reveal CO2 retention or significant acidosis. [yop_poll id="143"]
(Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) At a New Year’s Eve party several glasses of champagne are left lying around the house. The family’s 2yo toddler proceeds to drink some of them. The parents sheepishly bring the somnolent child in to the ED, and the ethanol level is 120 mg/dL. [yop_poll id="131"]
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(Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) A 13yo boy comes in by ambulance after a syncopal episode. He and his friends heard that vaping is dangerous, so they used a hookah to inhale flavored tobacco smoke. His HR is 94, BP 116/60, pulse ox 98% on room air. He complains of dizziness and headache. [yop_poll id="112"]
(Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) You are seeing a 17yo boy with cough x 1 month. You prescribe Tessalon Perles (benzonatate). He has a 2yo sibling at home. [yop_poll id="105"]
(Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) You are seeing a child with suspected methemoglobinemia from overuse of benzocaine teething gel. You plan to treat with methylene blue. Which of the following past medical history conditions makes methylene blue a contraindicated treatment? [yop_poll id="101"]
(Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) You are seeing a pair of 14 year old girls who took “Triple C” at a party. One is altered and the other is hallucinating. In addition, they are tachycardic. [yop_poll id="98"]
(Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) A toddler is brought in to the ED after it is suspected that he ate his uncle’s brownie containing cannabis. [yop_poll id="91"]
(Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) Regarding common Christmas holiday plants: [yop_poll id="78"]
(Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) A 2yo child is brought in after having taken some of Grandma’s “heart medicine.” Because the pills are kept in an unlabeled box and not their original container, the parents don’t know what the medication was. The child has sinus bradycardia with frequent PVC’s on the ECG, a blood glucose of 90; electrolytes on the i-stat are normal except for a slightly elevated potassium level. [yop_poll id="43"]
(Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) A 14 month old is brought in with lethargy and obtundation. The patient is breathing spontaneously and has stable vital signs. The parents admit that they were having a party with alcohol and recreational drugs present, and the toddler had been walking around. [yop_poll id="36"]
(Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) An 8 year old boy presents after taking 3-4 of grandma’s pills about an hour prior. It is unknown what Grandma takes, but she has “chronic pain, a heart condition, high blood pressure, and sugar problems”. He is altered, but arousable to stimuli and answers questions. He says he took the pills because he was “curious.” His vital signs are: Temp 36.6, HR 49, RR 12, BP 80/40, O2 sat 98% on room air. Physical exam is significant only for miosis, bradycardia, and somewhat weak pulses. Bedside glucose is 100. [yop_poll id="18"]
(Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) Several members of a family present to the cruise ship infirmary of an Alaskan cruise. They just ate a lunch consisting of tuna salad sandwiches. For breakfast they had a buffet of pancakes and waffles, and last night they ate a shellfish feast dinner which included raw oysters, crab, clams, scallops, and fish. For dessert they had ice cream. They have also been visiting the bar onboard. They are all experiencing abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, and frequent watery diarrhea. Some have low-grade fever and chills. Which meal most likely caused their symptoms? [yop_poll id="16"]
Jellyfish en.wikipedia.org (Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) [yop_poll id="10"]
A 19yo man presents with his 3rd bout of unremitting nausea and vomiting. He has been admitted twice before and treated with ondansetron and IV fluids. He was noted to take frequent long showers while admitted. (Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) [yop_poll id="8"]
A 19yo man presents with progressively worsening extremity numbness in a glove and stocking distribution and ataxia x 1 month. He has areflexia, weakness, and a wide-based gait on exam. (Click the link to comment and to vote - voting not working through email, sorry!) [yop_poll id="4"]
A 16yo boy just returned from a vacation to the U.S. Virgin Islands. On the flight, he developed abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, which he initially attributed to airsickness. He came straight from the airport to the ED, and now he also complains of lingual and circumoral paresthesias, painful paresthesias of his hands and feet, feeling as though his teeth feel “loose”, and generalized weakness. Another classic symptom of this entity is: A. Urticaria and flushing B. Tachycardia C. Profuse watery diarrhea D. Paralysis E. Temperature reversal Also, if you’re interested in the Peds ID Antibiotics Question of the Week, you can find it here
A 6yo child is brought in after rescue from a housefire. He is unconscious, and has soot in his nares. You perform rapid sequence intubation. Vital signs are: Temp 37.5, HR 120, BP 68/40, O2 saturation 100%. You note a cherry red color to his skin. What is the antidote most indicated? A. Methylene blue B. 2-PAM C. Hydroxocobalamin D. Sodium bicarbonate E. Naloxone
All of the following preclude expectant outpatient management in the case of an ingested button battery found by imaging to be in the stomach except: A. Co-ingestion of a magnet B. Child complains of abdominal pain C. Child has history of constipation D. Battery is > 15mm diameter and has been present > 4 days in a child < 6 years old E. N/A; ingested batteries should always be endoscopically removed

Tips and Tricks

There is surprisingly sparse literature to help determine how much a child swallowed as part of a toxic ingestion. Most texts quote the work of Jones & Work in Am J Dis Child 1961, who studied 10 children aged 1.25-3.5 years and found the average mL/swallow to be 4.6mL, or 0.33 mL/kg. To remember more easily, round up to 5mL, or one teaspoon, per swallow of a small child. Another study by Watson et al in Am J Emerg Med 1983, found that container opening size made a difference. Older children swallow 10-15mL per swallow, while teens and adults swallow 15-30mL. Some liquid substances highly toxic to toddlers in a teaspoon or less include: camphor (vaporub, tiger balm), methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen), liquid nicotine (vaping solution), and selenium dioxide (gun bluing solution).
With the rise in legality of cannabis products, ED (and even PED) clinicians are seeing a big rise in cannabis hyperemesis syndrome. Topical capsaicin 0.025-0.075% is a known reliever of symptoms, as outlined on AliEM here. But who stocks topical capsaicin cream in their ED? Turns out hot sauces can be used as outlined here. Hot sauces are graded in Scoville units, and the equivalent to capsaicin cream is a hot sauce with 4,000-12,000 Scoville units. Avoid hot sauces that go higher than that - they can burn the skin. Tabasco original red sauce has a Scoville rating of 2,500-5,000 units.
Hyperemesis due to cannabis use is on the rise, particularly in areas with marijuana legalization. While classically it is seen in chronic, daily users, affected patients sometimes have been using cannabis for less than a year, and may be using it as infrequently as once a week. Patients present with bouts of severe nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. A classic symptom is relief with hot showers (due to activation of the TRPV1 receptors). Symptom relief in the ED involves fluid rehydration and ondansetron (although this often no longer works for the patient after multiple bouts). There are also many reports of successful resolution of acute symptoms with benzodiazepines, haloperidol, and topical capsaicin. Curative treatment involves convincing the patient to stop cannabis use. Therein lies the tip, which I just learned from a colleague – a good way to help the patient understand is to tell them they suffer from an “allergy” to marijuana– while some people may be able to use marijuana chronically, they cannot, as it will cause these symptoms. Cessation of cannabis use can result in symptom relief as soon as 12-24 hours but sometimes not for as long as 3 weeks. So let them know how long that “allergic reaction” can continue!
Use the PATCH mnemonic to remember transdermal medications Child with unusual symptoms, potential toxidrome? Look all over their body for a medication patch. Many are transparent or look like bandaids. P   Pain (fentanyl, lidocaine) A   Anti-cholinergic (scopolamine) T   Tobacco (nicotine) C   Clonidine H   Hormones (estrogen, testosterone)

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