Intussusception trivia

Some mnemonics are useful and others are just plain trivia. Here is some intussusception trivia that is easy to remember:

• In adults, a cause may be found in 2/3 of cases
• 2/3 of known causes will be due to neoplasm
• 2/3 of these neoplasms are malignant

This is why some may prefer to resect an intussusception in an adult (as opposed to reduce it as is done in children).

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Source: This bit of trivia was found in Skandalakis’ Surgical Anatomy.

Thanks for subscribing or visiting! Wishing you all an enjoyable summer!

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Not just a reflex

Can’t remember the nerve roots associated with the reflexes you are eliciting? It’s easy. Count 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 and go from toe to forearm to biceps to triceps!

 

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Have a great week!

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Study resources

Hello TheWeeklyMnemonic readers,

Back from my blog vacation. Posts will trickle in more regularly again. I will make my best efforts to stay true to the “weekly” nature of the blog.

This week, I would like to provide you with some additional resources you can use for supplementing your studies.

• Shola Vaughn, a dermatology resident, is running a website all about helping medical students through their sometimes-challenging medical studies. Here is a link to her impressive body of work: SholaMD
• Sketchy medicine is a fun website I enjoy checking out once in a while. Partly for the useful tidbits of information and partly because of the quircky sketches.
• For those looking for a relief from your studies but want some medicine-related entertainment, check out the facebook group “Today at MedSchool” which has some funny real-life anecdotes pertaining to the everyday lives as medical professionals.

What resources do you like to use to study? If you know of a good one or would like to share the one you have created, contact us or comment below.

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That’s it for this week folks!

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Asthma. Intermittent or persistent?

Those suffering from intermittent asthma do not need daily medications to maintain good control. On the other hand, those with persistent asthma will need daily maintenance medications to prevent exacerbations. Luckily for us, there is a rule of thumb that will help make the clinical distinction between intermittent and persistent asthma easier.

This rule of thumb is the “rule of twos” (abbreviated as Ro2). This is a quick and easy checklist to go through with your patients. If they answer “yes” to any of the rules of two, asthma is considered to be “persistent” or inadequately controlled.

• Are they symptomatic more than 2 days a week?
• Are they requiring their rescue inhaler more than 2 days per week?
• Are they experiencing nighttime symptoms more than 2 days per month?
• Are they requiring a course of oral steroids more than 2 times a year?

Hopefully some of you can put the Ro2 to use in practice!

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Have a great week! Good luck to those studying for exams.

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Fetal monitoring

During delivery, you’ll most certainly be asked to keep an eye on the fetal heart monitoring strip.

“VEAL CHOP” is a memory trick to remember what each of the patterns mean. The first word of the mnemonic, “veal”, represents the different patterns you may observe. The second word, “chop”, tells you what each pattern indicates about the state of the fetus. The first letter of “veal” corresponds with the first letter of “chop”, the second letter of “veal” corresponds with the second letter of “chop”. etc.

V = variable

E = early accelerations

A = accelerations

L = late decelerations

C = cord compression

H = head compression

O = OK (i.e. it’s all good!)

P = placental insufficiency

“HELP VC” is another one you can use to remember the causes of decelerations

HE = head compression –>early

LP = late–>placental insufficiency

VC = variable–> cord compression

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Have a great week! Thanks for reading. Happy studying.

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Click here to share a mnemonic for a future edition of The Weekly Mnemonic.

Hematology refresher

If you find hematology-oncology tough, The Weekly Mnemonic can relate. So this week’s offering is a little memory aid to help remember  signs of multiple myeloma. Hopefully it leaves you feeling less crabby during your studies. :)

C = calcium elevated (i.e. hypercalcemia)

R = renal failure (i.e. myeloma nephrosis)

A = anemia (think bone marrow infiltration)

B = bone lesions (i.e. osteolytic lesions, fractures)

This mnemonic comes from Step Up To Medicine by S. and E. Agabegi (find it on p. 351 of 3rd ed)

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Thanks for reading!!

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Triads, pentads and classic presentations (part 11)

Apologies for not having posted in a while! The Weekly Mnemonic is back with number 11 of the “Triads” series. This time, 3 triads with the focus is on women’s health are presented.

Meig’s syndrome will resolve with resection of the benign ovarian mass and consists of the triad of: 1) ascites 2) pleural effusion 3) benign ovarian tumour.

The female athlete triad consists of 3 conditions and is found in females participating in sports activities which value a low body weight: 1) eating disorder 2) amenorrhea 3) osteoporosis or osteopenia.

Polycystic ovary syndrome is an anovulatory state which includes the following 3 classic findings: 1) signs of hyperandrogenism (hirsutism, acne, hair loss, etc.) 2) oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea 3) polycystic appearance of ovaries on ultrasound.

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Happy Easter! Thanks for reading and/or following the blog. :)

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The F word

As the title of the post suggests, this week’s post will take a turn towards the arguably-not-so-PC. If you don’t like one of the F words of this week’s mnemonic, I provide a more PC alternative. :)

When suspecting obstructive biliary disease, think of the 5 factors that describe the patient population frequently affected by gallbladder disease. These 5 factors are remembered with the “5 ‘F’s”

Fair

Female

Forty

Fertile

Fat (or use the more polite term “full”)

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Congratulations to the Canadian 4th year medical students on the residency Match!! Good luck to the Americans!

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Confounders and confusers (part 2)

The “Confounders and confusers” series offers tips and tricks for differentiating easily confused terms. For part 2 of confounders and confusers, let’s talk hematology.

To differentiate between Hemophilia A and Hemophilia B and which clotting factor is defective in each condition, use the following trick:

Hemophilia A = Factor VIII    because “A” sounds a lot like the word “eight”

Hemophilia B = Factor IX      because “A” comes before “B” and “8” comes before “9”

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Thanks for reading!

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Scoring and risk stratification (part 5)

The Alvarado score is a popular score used in emergency medicine to determine the likelihood of an appendicitis. This score is a high sensitivity for appenciditis and is therefore best for ruling it out (sensitivity of a score of 5 is 99% and specificity of a score of 7 is 81%). It is unreliable in children and more reliable in men than women. You may refer to a systematic of the Alvarado score below.

The Alvarado score has 8 criteria for a total score of 10 points. Alvarado score may be remembered using the following memory trick: “My Appendix Feels Likely To Rupture Now”.

My = Migration of pain to the right iliac fossa

Appendix = Anorexia

Feels = Fever of 37.3 Celsius or more

L = Leukocytosis

T = Tenderness in the right iliac fossa

R = Rebound tenderness

N = 1) Nausea or vomiting 2) Neutrophilia

**Tenderness in the right lower quadrant and leukocytosis count for 2 points each. All other criteria count for 1 point.

A score of 1 to 4 points has a 30% probability of being appendicitis. No imaging is suggested (note: if score is 4 points and there is clinical suspicion, imaging is suggested). The patient may be discharged.

A score of 5 to 6 points has a 66% probability of being appendicitis. A CT of the abdomen is suggested. The patient should be observed +/- admitted.

A score of 7 to 10 points has a 93% probability of being appendicitis. Consult a surgeon.

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Please refer to this article by Ohle et al. entitled “The Alvarado score for predicting acute appendicitis: a systematic review” for more reading. Thanks for reading!

*Note: this tool (and other risk stratification tools posted on this blog) is only for use by medical professionals in the medical context. If you are concerned for your health, please consult your physician!

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