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Cold Sweat Series 2: Hypoglycemia

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Consuming too much sugar is not good but having inadequate sugar from too stringent control is indeed harmful. How do we define hypoglycemia? Either one of the below: Low plasma glucose level (<4.0mmol/L) Development of autonomic/neuroglycopenic symptoms in patients treated with insulin or oral anti-hyperglycemic agents, which are REVERSED by caloric intake So how does hypoglycemia affect your body? Can the patient tolerate orally? If yes, ask patient to drink sweet drinks or to take his/her meal and to check again after 15mins IF not, to immediately give IV 50cc 50% dextrose and to repeat every 10-15 mins until mental function recovers or glucose level normalize followed by infusion of D5-10%. Continue with D10% infusion for pt who had overdose of long-acting insulin or OHA for 24-48 hours

Cold Sweat Series 1: Oxygen Desaturation

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Nurse A: Dr, Dr! Patient desat.... New Dr : >< ohhh..desat..desat...what to do? God, please help me save this patient Below is the overview of the approach in this case Treatment: 1. Identify underlying cause 2. Supplementary oxygen maintain Pa02 at 60-80mmHg / SPO2 of 92-100%  to avoid oxygen toxicity as PaO2 of >80% is not proven to improve oxygen delivery and hence unnecessary Oxygen toxicity is concentration and time-dependent Lowest FiO2 should be used as FiO2 >60% leads to inflammatory changes, alveoli infiltration and then pulmonary fibrosis Nasal cannulae: 1-6L/min of oxygen (because 6L/min is adequate to fill the nasopharynx) - Fi02<40% Fi02>40% is delivered via oxygen mask with a reservoir Remember the oxygen dissociation curve? In the context of anesthesiologists, there are a few important points in the curve. They are ICU point, mixed venous point, arterial point, and P50. Definition of each term is as follows: ICU point

Cold Sweat Series

Cold Sweat Series will cover approach to different common emergencies seen in wards, namely, Oxygen desaturation Hypoglycemia Hyperglycemia Hypotension Hypertension Patient collapse/reduced mental status Tachycardia Bradycardia Reduced urine output

Ortho Fracture Series 1: Proximal Humerus Fracture

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The new Ortho Fracture Series will cover the most important type of fractures. It is a compilation of info from various websites and textbook. In our very first series, we will look into proximal humerus fracture. It comprise of 4-6% of all fractures and the third most common fracture in elderly with females having higher incidence (2:1 ratio). Increasing age is also a risk factor for women. Understanding anatomy The 5 most important parts of proximal humerus: Greater tuberosity Lesser tuberosity Humeral head Anatomical neck (the epiphyseal plate) - located distal to the head of the humerus, at an oblique angle to the shaft of the humerus (fracture here,although rare, may lead to avascular necrosis) Surgical neck -  most frequently fractured  site of the proximal humerus (so surgeon operate here more often, hence the name, surgical neck), putting the  axillary nerve  and  posterior circumflex humeral branch  of the axillary artery at risk. Muscle around proxi

Sepsis and Septic Shock

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According to the latest Surviving Sepsis Campaign 2016 Guideline, sepsis is defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by dysregulated host response to infection, while septic shock is its subset with circulatory and cellular/metabolic dysfunction associated with higher mortality risk. Below is a mind map to show you the scary effect bacteria causing a series of event leading to sepsis --> septic shock and eventually death if left untreated or treated late. The main effect of sepsis is vasodilation (arterial and venous), increased vascular permeability, global tissue hypoxia causing lactic acidosis and cellular injury, which leads to multi organ dysfunction. Recognizing sepsis Complications 1. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) 2. Acute kidney injury 3. Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) 4. Chronic renal failure 5. Mesenteric ischemia 6. Myocardial ischemia and dysfunction 7. Liver failure Investigations 1. Initial lab studi

Baby gerak ok? (Approach to Reduced Fetal Movement)

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Very often reduced fetal movement causes anxiety to mothers. They are often worried something might have gone wrong to their child. Let's us dive into this topic to understand more about it and hopefully may help future mothers to alleviate their anxiousness. So, how do we define fetal movement? Fetal movement, defined as any discrete kick, flutter, swish or roll, is very subjective. It is usually based on maternal perception and varies according to individual. Most mothers will be able to feel the movement by 20 weeks of gestation (primiparous:18-20 weeks or later than 20 weeks, multiparous: ~16 weeks onward). These movements would increase until 32nd week and will then be plateau. During afternoon and evening periods, the fetal movement is at its peak. After moving much, there will of course be a sleeping period, which could last for 20-40 minutes, rarely exceeding 90 minutes, and occur throughout day and night. Presence of fetal movement symbolises the maturity of central ne

Asthma Series 1: AsthmaMeds

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Hello everyone. Let's revise on how asthma happens and what are the medications available. Pathogenesis of asthma  (The basis to understanding all the medications used below, so please spend time understanding the concise version of pathogenesis. Feel free to drop a comment if there is any part that is not clear or you would like to provide us with extra info) Reference: Robbins Pathology, 8th Edition Asthma medications are divided into 2: 1. Reliever (Relief of bronchoconstriction) 2. Controller (Reduction of symptoms and prevention of attacks) RELIEVERS Beta-2 agonist (eg: salbutamol and terbutaline) Pharmacology: Rapid onset (15-30 mins) Peak: 30-60mins Duration of action: 4-6hours Mechanism of Action:  Beta adrenergic receptors are coupled to a stimulatory G protein, Gs, of adenyl cyclase (AC). AC will then catalyze the production of second messanger cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). In the lungs, cAMP reduces calcium concentr