bestBETs

A female patient aged 30 has recently returned to running after a 5 year break. She has developed pain on the lateral aspect of her knee whilst she is running, and she has been diagnosed with iliotibal band syndrome (ITBS). You wonder, given the limited treatment time available, which conservative technique to use in order to get the best results.

An elderly woman attends your emergency department (ED) following a mechanical fall. She takes warfarin for atrial fibrillation and has a small occipital haematoma. Her Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) is 15; she has no amnesia and a normal neurological examination but did briefly lose consciousness. The International Normalised Ratio (INR) comes back within the therapeutic range at 2.9 and a CT scan is requested according to the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The scan is reported as normal, and her social circumstances are adequate in that she lives with her husband who can keep an eye on her. You wonder, though, whether it is safe to discharge her or if there is a possibility of delayed intracranial haemorrhage (DICH) due to her coagulopathy, and therefore she should be admitted for a period of neurological observation so that it can be identified and acted upon at the earliest opportunity.

A 55 year old man presents to the emergency department with spontaneous epistaxis. He is haemodynamically stable. Simple first aid measures including pinching the soft portion of the nose were ineffective at arresting the bleeding. The patient is previously well with no comorbidities. You are aware that tranexamic acid is effective as an antifibrinolytic in various bleeding conditions and anticipate it may be useful topically at stopping bleeding in epistaxis.

A 37 year old male presents with an anterior shoulder dislocation following a rugby match. He states he has not ingested solids for 6 hours or fluids for 2 hours. As you are consenting him for procedural sedation you notice he is chewing gum. Should this patient be regarded as fasted or should an alternate method of facilitating reduction be used due to an increased risk of aspiration?

A 60-year-old female attends the emergency department complaining of floaters and visual loss affecting her right eye. You are concerned that she may have suffered a retinal detachment but are unable clinically to gain a clear view of the fundus. You wonder if ocular ultrasound would be helpful in diagnosing retinal detachment.

36 years old patient was transferred to emergency department following a severe blunt trauma in a road traffic accident. When deciding about initial diagnostic investigation, you wonder which one is associated with better survival: whole-body CT or conventional diagnostics.

A 45 year old man returns to the UK after spending 3 months working in Kenya. He complains of headache, myalgia and nausea. He is not vomiting, his observations are stable and his temperature remains below 38 degrees Celsius. Blood film confirms the presence of Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites.

You see a 6 year old boy in clinic with nephrotic syndrome who is on low dose alternate day prednisolone. He has coryzal symptoms but is otherwise well, with 1+ proteinuria and no oedema. You know that he has previously relapsed following a viral infection and you wonder what you can do to prevent a further relapse. You ask the consultant who suggests increasing his prednisolone dose to daily and you wonder what the evidence is for that.

A 61 year old female with MS is about to start a programme of rehab. She has pain in her right hip, stiffness throughout her right lower limb. She finds it difficult to mobilise independently and to climb stairs. Should the rehab programme be land based in rehab gym or a course of hydrotherapy?

A 13-year-old boy presents with an 8 month history of abdominal pain, diarrhoea and some weight loss. Investigations confirm Crohn’s disease (CD) of moderate severity. To induce remission you consider either a 6-12 week course of corticosteroids or exclusive enteral nutrition with a polymeric formula for 6 weeks. You plan to reserve the thiopurines (azathioprine [AZA] or 6-mercaptopurine [6-MP]) for second-line therapy. After an internet search, the parents are aware that relapse occurs frequently after initial treatment and that the disease often progresses. They are keen for their son to start a thiopurine straight away.

The trauma team including the cardiothoracic surgical department discusses at a grand round meeting the introduction of a new “adult thoracic trauma” management protocol after patients with thoracic trauma have been stabilised in the emergency department. This protocol involves the use of Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS). You are not sure whether VATS is a safe and effective technique for managing thoracic trauma so you decide to look up the evidence yourself.

You are the emergency department consultant who attends an adult who has been brought in by HEMS following a high speed RTC. He suffered loss of consciousness and was intubated at scene with a GCS 6. He has a sustained a severe closed head injury. You consider if there is any benefit for this patient in receiving combination progesterone and vitamin. D therapy for potential neuroprotection post- traumatic brain injury. Would this therapy improve clinical outcomes for the patient? You resolve to search the literature.