[1] Diagnostic criteria for sepsis, adapted from Levy et al.
[2] Early Goal-Directed Therapy (EGDT) Protocol (N Engl J Med 2001;345:1368-77.) EGDT should be started immediately and completed within 6 hours of recognition of severe sepsis/septic shock.
[Reference]
American Journal of Emergency Medicine (2007) 25, 564–571.
Typically soft and fluctuant when compressed, a septal hematoma is a collection of blood between the nasal mucosa and the cartilaginous septum. It may occur unilaterally or, more commonly, bilaterally following nasal trauma with or without associated nasal fracture. This urgent condition warrants immediate referral to an otolaryngologist.
Management of septal hematoma includes local anesthesia with needle aspiration or incision and drainage. Several days of nasal packing prevents reaccumulation of blood. Ideally, treatment occurs within a few hours of injury.1 If the hematoma is not cleared, the septal cartilage may become necrotic and result in a saddle nose deformity or septal perforation. Accumulated blood may become infected, and antibiotics should follow drainage if abscess is noted.
A knee x-ray is only required for knee injury patients with any of these findings:
age 55 or over
isolated tenderness of the patella (no bone tenderness of the knee other than the patella)
tenderness at the head of the fibula
inability to flex to 90 degrees
inability to weight bear both immediately and in the casualty department (4 steps - unable to transfer weight twice onto each lower limb regardless of limping)