US terminology
The Ultrasonography page has been updated with information about US terminology.
Clinical skills
Ultrasound key points
The Ultrasonography page has been updated with key points.
Principles of US
The Ultrasonography page has been updated with some additional information about the principles of US.
Blood gas analysis
The Blood gas analysis page has had a few minor wording changes to improve clarity.
Teamwork and committees
The Teamwork and Committees pages have been revised to remove some duplication of content.
What was the first thing you noticed?
The Clinical skills page has been updated including the recommendation to ask patients the question “What was the first thing you noticed?’ when taking a diagnostic history. This question often reveals important information that other questioning has failed to uncover, particularly in complex cases where there is a lot of information to gather. Going back … Read more
Normal PR interval in children
The Electrocardiography page has been updated, including the addition of normal PR intervals for children.
Spurious hypophosphataemia
The Hypophosphataemia page has been updated with analytical causes of hypophosphataemia.
ROTEM guided transfusion
The Coagulation testing page has been updated with revised information about ROTEM guided transfusion.
Calcium doses in hyperkalaemia
The Hyperkalaemia page has been updated with additional information about the use of calcium.
Placebo and nocebo effects
The Communication page has been updated with a new segment on placebo and nocebo effects. These effects have a significant impact on what we do, so I suggest you read this section soon.
Intravenous contrast and dialysis
The Intravenous contrast page has been updated with additional information about IV contrast and patients on dialysis.
Reference change values
Information about the significant reference change values for a variety of analytes has been added to the Interpretation of investigation results page.
Biological variation
A new segment on biological variation has been added to the Interpretation of investigation results page.
Barriers to communication
The Communication page has been updated, including additional information about barriers to communication.
Medical terms that most people understand
A new page called Medical terms that most people understand has been created. It is a list of alternatives to common medical terms that can be used when speaking to patients to aid communication. It is my experience that many good clinicians let themselves down by not realising how much medical jargon they use when … Read more
Limitations of albumin corrected calcium
The Calcium page has been updated with additional information about the limitations of albumin corrected calcium and the importance of ionised calcium to direct therapy.
Analysis of serum vs plasma
The Specimen collection page has been updated with additional information about the differences between analysis of plasma and serum.
Haemolysis of samples
The Interpretation of investigation results page has been updated with additional information about sample haemolysis, particularly when sample tubes are under filled.
Patiromer
The Hyperkalaemia page has been updated to include some additional information about Patiromer – an ion exchange resin that recently became available in Australia.