Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Recurrent Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in a Patient With Repeated Exposure to Metronidazole: A Case Report

Urgent Message: Metronidazole, even during short courses of therapy, can result in disabling neuropsychiatric symptoms. It is important for clinicians to be knowledgeable about these relatively uncommon but serious adverse medication reactions. Faren Clum, MD; Joshua Russell, MD, MSc, ELS, FCUCM, FACEP Citation: Clum F, Russell J. Recurrent Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in a Patient With Repeated Exposure to Metronidazole: A Case Report. J Urgent Care Med. 2025; 19(7):37-41 Abstract Introduction: Metronidazole is a commonly prescribed antibiotic. …

Urgent Care Evaluation and Management of Spontaneous Pneumothorax

Urgent Message: Spontaneous pneumothorax (PTX) occurs unpredictably. Many patients with spontaneous pneumothorax may initially present to urgent care, so it is important for clinicians to include it in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with acute chest pain and/or dyspnea. Rarely, a spontaneous pneumothorax can progress to a tension pneumothorax if the diagnosis is delayed. Vrunda Patel, BS; Kevin Radecki, MD Citation: Patel V, Radecki, K. Urgent Care Evaluation and Management of Spontaneous Pneumothorax. J …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – April 2025

Evaluating Interventions for Improving Antibiotic Stewardship in Urgent Care Take Home Point: An antibiotic stewardship intervention was associated with reduced rates of antibiotic prescribing for patients with bronchitis, but not viral upper respiratory infections (URI). Citation: Park D, Roberts A, Hamdy R, et. al. Evaluating an urgent care antibiotic stewardship intervention: a multi-network collaborative effort. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2025; Jan 8:1-6. doi: 10.1017/ice.2024.213 Relevance: Antibiotic prescribing for conditions not caused by bacterial infection remains …

28-Year-Old With Foot Pain

A 28-year-old woman presents to urgent care after an indoor rock-climbing event. She fell 10 feet from the wall without any safety gear to break the fall. She describes deep pain in her left foot, and she is limping. An exam reveals dorsal and plantar midfoot tenderness and bruising across the dorsal foot. A 3-view x-ray series is ordered. Review the image and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the …

65-Year-Old With Hypertension

A 65-year-old female with a history of hypertension presents with chest pain and dyspnea for 1 day. She denies fever, cough, nausea, vomiting, or abdominal pain. Upon arrival to urgent care, her respiratory rate was 28 breaths per minute, blood pressure 179/102, and oxygen saturation 92% on room air. An ECG is obtained. View the ECG captured above and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on …

36-Year-Old With Hair Loss

A 36-year-old man presents to urgent care with asymptomatic hair loss that developed on multiple sites of his scalp over the previous 2 months. The hair loss developed in round patches that expanded to involve most of the back of his scalp. His past medical history is notable for hyperthyroidism. View the image above and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the following page.

The Quality of Urgent Care Depends on our Commitment to HOLA Expertise

At least once a month, a friend or family member will text me—often for the first time in years—to share the summary of a recent visit to their local urgent care (UC). While these texts are universally unsolicited, I genuinely love receiving them. The unfiltered perspective cannot be matched by even the most sophisticated electronic medical record analytics or patient experience reports. This is because the stories they share with me, while anecdotal, provide a …

Hot Water Irrigation to Relieve Discomfort After Wasp and Bee Envenomation: A Case Series

Urgent Message: Hot water irrigation for 2 minutes provided immediate and sustained relief of pain and pruritus, as well as rapid de-escalation of large local reactions due to wasp and bee stings in this series of patients. Ted C. Shieh, MD; Jenny J. Lu, MD MS Citation: Shieh TC, Lu JJ. Hot Water Irrigation to Relieve Discomfort After Wasp and Bee Envenomation: A Case Series. J Urgent Care Med. 2025; 19(7):25-30 Abstract Introduction: Pain, pruritus, …

Postpartum Presentations: When Risk Arises After Delivery – Headache

Urgent Message: Both common and serious postpartum conditions may present in urgent care. Headache presentations should prompt consideration for possible postpartum preeclampsia, cerebral venous thrombosis, or post-dural puncture headache. Alexa Bailey, BS; Lauren Kostandaras, BS; Hannah Poorman, BS; Michael Weinstock, MD; Catherine Neal, DO Citation: Bailey A, Kostandaras L, Poorman H, Weinstock M, Neal C. Postpartum Presentations: When Risk Arises after Delivery – Headache. J Urgent Care Med. 2025; 19(6): 23-30 Key Words: headache, postpartum, …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – March 2025

Developing Procedural Mastery With Slit Lamp Use Take Home Point: Simulation-based mastery learning (SBML) intervention improved emergency physicians’ confidence in performing and teaching slit lamp exams (SLE) to other clinicians, but this confidence waned after completing the training. Citation: Hamou S, Ghiaee S, Chung C, et. al. Emergency Department Slit Lamp Interdisciplinary Training Via Longitudinal Assessment in Medical Practice. West J Emerg Med. 2024;25(5):725-734. doi: 10.5811/westjem.18514 Relevance: Procedural comfort and competence for a wide variety …

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