Clinical

A man who reported to a Kansas City-area urgent care center with an open wound on the bottom of his foot—and who ended up losing his leg when his cellulitis worsened and he ultimately developed gangrene and sepsis—is suing the physician who first saw him, alleging that she failed to prescribe the right antibiotic, never cultured his wound, and declined to order any lab work whatsoever. The suit claims the doctor prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotics that …

Roughly 800,000 children are brought to emergency rooms after sustaining a blow to the head every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Clearly, many others appear in urgent care centers—and that segment is likely to grow as parents continue to become more aware that urgent care is often the best choice for many complaints. Now the CDC has released new guidelines on evaluation and treatment of children who’ve sustained a blow …

A woman in the United Kingdom has been diagnosed with a “flesh-eating” sexually transmitted disease that is relatively rare in the UK, and even more-so in the United States—but common in many tropical areas. Donovanosis causes genital and anal ulcers and can destroy tissue. Often, patients first notice small, painless sores that expand slowly before becoming raised, red bumps that bleed easily. As it spreads, it can destroy genital tissue and cause the surrounding area …

The Food and Drug Administration has tapped the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to help it develop guidelines for treating acute, short-term pain related to specific medical conditions and procedures. The FDA says its new standard will “build on” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated advisory, which does not distinguish among pain from fibromyalgia, arthritis, neuropathy, or any other medical condition. The FDA’s plan is to be more indication-specific. Another difference: …

Chances are you think long and hard before prescribing opioids, and consider how long a patient will really need that level of pain relief if you do decide they’re necessary, in these days of rampant addiction. An article published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine suggests that physicians should mull that over even more toward the end of their shift, as the likelihood of prescribing an opioid product is 60% higher in the last …

Urgent care—and the medical community in general—has come a long way in concussion recognition and management. One shortfall has been that clinicians assessing patients who experienced a blow to the head had nothing to compare their findings to, in terms of the patient’s “normal” capabilities. The most recent development in the field has been the idea of getting a baseline on a patient’s cognitive health conditions before an injury occurs. FastMed just launched its own …

Multiple counties in Alabama are reporting a jump in urgent care visits related to pertussis—enough that the Alabama Department of Health is warning parents of the signs (the most recognized being the tell-tale “whooping” cough). The numbers are expected to rise, too, given that Alabama’s public schools are already back in session and children are more likely to be sharing germs in the classroom. Ensure you have adequate testing supplies, especially if you have operations …

Panicked parents may be likely to dash into an urgent care center in the hope that you’ll have EpiPens on hand. Many families tempt fate by not traveling with their own, while some say they can’t afford them to begin with, given that their expected shelf life is just 20 months. Cost is always a concern for healthcare operators trying to keep overhead down, as well, so it’s essential that you know the Food and …

After last year’s tough flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is already urging the public to get their flu shots early, recommending vaccination no later than the end of October. That means it’s not too early to start letting your patients know your urgent care center is the perfect place to get one. As always, the need is especially great for children, anyone with a compromised immune system, the elderly, and pregnant …

Some of the symptoms are relatively generic—fever, headache, fatigue—but that’s actually one of the risks for patients infected with Chagas disease, which can cause stroke and heart failure if it’s not caught and treated in time. If you have patients with those common complaints, look further to see if they have a rash or swelling without an explanation; if so, consider sending out a blood smear for analysis or referring them for testing immediately. Chagas …