The Greek physician, Claudius Galen, is considered to be one of the most important figures in the history of Medicine. Galen was the greatest physician of his era and was also a skilled surgeon and renowned philosopher. He was responsible for numerous advances in the...
In The Initial Trauma Assessment Part 1 we looked at the primary survey as advocated by the ATLS program and the ‘ABDCE’ approach to the initial assessment of the patient. Once the primary survey has been completed, resuscitative efforts are underway, and the...
The initial assessment and management of the seriously injured trauma patient is both challenging and anxiety-inducing for many clinicians. It is an undertaking that requires a cool head, systematic approach, speed, and good clinical judgement. The Advanced Trauma...
Blood transfusion can be a life-saving treatment of great clinical benefit but also carries several risks and potential associated problems including: Immunological complications Administration errors (‘wrong blood’ episodes) Infections (bacterial, viral, possibly...
The term Apparent Life Threatening Event (ALTE) is one that is very familiar to those of us that have worked in paediatrics for any length of time. The term ALTE originated from a 1986 National Institutes of Health Consensus on Infantile Apnoea and was intended to...
No single piece of equipment is more synonymous with the medical profession than the stethoscope. I can vividly remember wearing my brand new Littmann stethoscope with pride on ward rounds as a medical student, desperately trying to discern diastolic murmurs and extra...
