A Farm Worker with a Dirty Wound

A Farm Worker with a Dirty Wound

A 24-year-old man from Russia presents with a wound on his left forearm sustained whilst working on a farm the day before yesterday. The wound has been cleaned under a tap but still contains some debris and dirt. You clean the wound carefully and prescribe...
Upper Limb Nerve Lesions (Part 1 – The Brachial Plexus)

Upper Limb Nerve Lesions (Part 1 – The Brachial Plexus)

Upper limb nerve lesions are commonly tested in the basic sciences section of both undergraduate and postgraduate medical examinations and occur very frequently in the FRCEM and MRCS examinations. They are very important because they occur commonly in clinical...
Severe Chest Pain Following Blunt Thoracic Trauma

Severe Chest Pain Following Blunt Thoracic Trauma

A 37-year-old man is involved in a high-speed motor vehicle collision. He was not wearing a seat belt and struck his chest on the steering wheel. He has presented complaining of severe central chest pain and breathlessness. You are the trauma call team leader. His...
An Unusually Severe Ear Infection

An Unusually Severe Ear Infection

A 76-year old woman presents has severe otalgia in her left ear that has been gradually worsening over the past few weeks. She describes the pain as being ‘unrelenting’ and she has been unable to sleep for several nights. Her family have noticed that the left side of...
Interpreting Diagnostic Tests

Interpreting Diagnostic Tests

What are diagnostic tests? A diagnostic test can be defined as ‘any kind of medical test performed to aid in the diagnosis or detection of disease, injury or any other medical condition’. Typically with any diagnostic test some of those at risk will be missed (false...