Where does the role of a chest X-ray lie in major trauma?

With the ever increasing use of CT and ultrasound in the resus room what role does the old school CXR hold? How many injuries will it pick up? How many will it miss? And when is the extra delay justified?

This podcast looks at a recent paper on the topic and some related national guidelines. Enjoy!

References

Prevalence and Clinical Import of Thoracic Injury Identified by Chest Computed Tomography but Not Chest Radiography in Blunt Trauma: Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study. Langdorf MI. Ann Emerg Med. 2015 Dec

NICE 2016: Major trauma; assessment and initial management

Burns are a common presentation to the ED and can result in a significant degree or morbidity and mortality.

In this podcast we talk through the approach and treatment of burns along with some controversies in the literature regarding assessment of burn depth and fluid management. Enjoy!

References

The Parkland formula under fire: is the criticism justified? Blumetti J, et al. J Burn Care Res. 2008 Jan-Feb.

Mersey Burns for calculating fluid resuscitation volume when managing burns: NICE advice [MIB58] Published date: March 2016

SCANRCIT: Pain can’t be used to differentiate between partial and full thickness burns

Here's a look at some of the papers that caught our eye this month.

In this podcast we cover a paper looking at the significance of findings with the history, physical exam and imaging in subarachnoid haemorrhage to inform your work up. 

We look at another paper focussing on total body versus selective CT scanning in trauma and lastly a paper looking at the validation of the DECAF score to predict mortality in COPD exacerbations.

We've also got the e book 'ABC of Emergency Radiology' to give away on iTunes thanks to our new sponsors ADPRAC.

All you need to do is answer the following question;

With regards to this August 2016 Papers podcast and REACT-2, which of the following is correct;

A. The use of selective CT scanning in major trauma leads to a dramatic decrease in radiation

B. The use of selective CT scanning in major trauma leads to a decrease in time to diagnosis

C. The use of selective CT scanning in major trauma leads to a decrease in cost per in patient episode

D. The safety of selective CT scanning vs whole body CT scanning was equivocal

Send your answer via email to contacttheresusroom@gmail.com with your name, answer and iTunes email address, entries close on the 15th August and we'll announce the winner in September's podcast. 

Enjoy!