Updates

The latest findings from the PECARN study of abdominal trauma published in Annals of Emergency Medicine have been integrated into a revision of the Evaluation of Abdominal Trauma page in the Trauma section.

The Vertigo page has been revised and moved to the Neurological Assessment part of the Neurological Disorders section. A small section outlining the indications for neuroimaging in patients with vertigo has been added and other content revised.

Additional information regarding the prognosis of HIV infection has been added to the HIV Infection page in the Infectious Disorders section. It is interesting to note that aggresively treated HIV infection now has a better prognosis than smoking!

It has been pointed out that it is chickling peas / kesari dal (lathyrus sativus) that causes lathyrism, not chick peas as previously stated. The Drug Induced Seizures page in the Toxicology section has been updated to reflect this.

A short section outilining the significance of an upright T wave in V1 has been added to the ECG in acute coronary syndromes page in the Cardiovascular disorders section.

A new section on Clostridium difficile has been added to the Infectious Gastroenteritis page in the Abdominal Pain section.

Updates have been made to the Upper GI Haemorrhage page in the Abdominal Disorders section outlining the need to avoid early, full restoration of blood volume in most patients with upper GI bleeding and to usually only transfuse red cells when the Hb is < 70g/L.

A new section on Amniotic fluid embolism has been added to the Abnormal Labour page in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology section.

The section on Button battery ingestion in the Gastrointestinal Foreign Bodies page in the Abdominal Disorders Section has been updated to reinforce the urgency in removing oesophageal button batteries.

A small section outlining the treatment effect of epidural steroids in lower back pain has been added to the Lower Back Pain page in the Bone and Joint Disorders section.

Some additional information about the test characteristics of cardiac MRI and stress echocardiography has been added to the Other Diagnositic Modalities in ACS page in the Cardiovascular Disorders section.

A small section on avalanche related injury has been added to the High Altitude Medicine page in the Environmental Emergencies section.

Additional information regarding Rhinovirus and Adenovirus has been added to the Rhinitis page in the Head and Neck Disorders section.

Details of the AGRO violence management technique used particuarly in managing disturbed adolescents have been added to the Violence page in the Clinical Skills section.

Tips on how to alleviate anxiety and enhance collaborative decision making with patients have been added to the Clinical Skills page in the Clinical Practice Skills section.

Additional information regarding RSV and Human Parainfluenza virus has been added to the Bronchiolitis and Croup pages in the Paediatrics section

Additional details regarding respiratory precautions have been added to the Infection Control page of the Infectious Diseases section.

A section with some suggested guidelines on how to assess patients previously evaluated for ACS has been added to the Risk Stratification in ACS page in the Cardiovascular Disorders section.

Details of how to obtain Rabies immunoglobin and vaccine in Australia have been added to the Rabies page in the Infectious Disorders section.

The Brain Death page in the Neurological Disorders section has been revised to include useful information from the ANZICS 2011 Statement on Brain Death.