Learning and reflections from the first day of the Paediatric Emergencies Update in Noosa in 2024. The report covers childhood stroke, bronchiolitis and practical approaches to painful procedures, including planning for analgesia after children leave the emergency department.
Paediatric Emergencies Update 2024 – Noosa Day 1 Read More
A 2021 appraisal of the Canadian TIA score’s prospective validation and comparison with ABCD scores. It explores seven-day stroke risk, the need for validation in other settings and why better prediction only helps when local services can act on the result.
JC: Canadian TIA risk score. St Emlyn’s Read More
Distinguishing peripheral dizziness from posterior circulation stroke can be difficult in the emergency department. This 2018 review discusses bedside assessment, including nystagmus, HINTS, neurological examination and gait. It emphasises the knowledge and practice needed to use these techniques, rather than offering a simple discharge rule.
JC: Can I safely discharge dizzy patients from the ED? Read More
A sceptical 2017 appraisal of a systematic review of intravenous thrombolysis for acute stroke. The post examines functional outcomes, bleeding and mortality, showing how interpretation of benefits and harms fuels disagreement; it presents the author’s historical critique rather than current treatment guidance.
JC: Kicking against the prick: Systematic Review of stroke thrombolysis Read More
Could platelet transfusion worsen outcomes after spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage in patients taking antiplatelet drugs? This 2016 appraisal examines the PATCH trial’s unexpected findings, functional outcomes and limitations, asking why a biologically plausible treatment might fail to help the patients it was intended to benefit.
JC: Platelets for Intracranial Haemorrhage. St.Emlyn’s Read More
A 2014 appraisal of MR CLEAN, an early positive trial of intra-arterial treatment for selected patients with acute ischaemic stroke. Simon Carley examines imaging-based selection, pragmatic treatment choices and functional outcomes, while asking how confidently one trial could support wider adoption at the time.
JC: Intra-arterial treatment for Stroke Read More
A 2013 invitation to scrutinise proposals for faster access to stroke thrombolysis. The post links competing discussions about the evidence and asks how assumptions about benefit should inform investment in prehospital pathways and hospital processes.
JC: Time is brain…., calling #FOAMagitators. St.Emlyn’s Read More
How should the early risks of stroke thrombolysis be weighed against later functional outcomes? This 2012 journal club debates IST-3, contrasting early mortality and bleeding with six-month survival and independence, and examining how the trial’s results are presented and interpreted.
JC: Thrombolysis in Acute Stroke – IST3 Read More
