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For pediatric patients with acute sinusitis, amoxicillin-clavulanate does not offer treatment benefit over amoxicillin alone and is more likely to be associated with gastrointestinal (GI) side effects and yeast infections than amoxicillin.

Source
Treatment Failure and Adverse Events After Amoxicillin-Clavulanate vs Amoxicillin for Pediatric Acute Sinusitis. JAMA. 2023 Sep 19;330(11):1064-1073. doi: 10.1001/jama.2023.15503.

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While it doesn’t have great specificity, the sensitivity of ultrasound makes it a viable first step in making the diagnosis of peritonsillar abscess.

Source
Test characteristics of ultrasound for the diagnosis of peritonsillar abscess: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Acad Emerg Med. 2023 Aug;30(8):859-869. doi: 10.1111/acem.14660. Epub 2023 Jan 30.

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Children with persistent or worsening rhinosinusitis experienced a modest improvement in symptoms when given amoxicillin-clavulanate vs. placebo.

Source
Identifying Children Likely to Benefit From Antibiotics for Acute Sinusitis: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2023;330(4):349-358. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.10854

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The GRACE-3 group (SAEM) provides us with a guideline based on their review we covered previously with the evidence for evaluating and managing adult patients presenting to emergency departments for acute dizziness. Emergency clinicians need additional training in physical exam techniques related to acute dizziness in order to perform them effectively, which should be a specialty-wide goal for the future. 

Source
Guidelines for reasonable and appropriate care in the emergency department 3 (GRACE-3): Acute dizziness and vertigo in the emergency department. Acad Emerg Med. 2023 May;30(5):442-486. doi: 10.1111/acem.14728.

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After a training session, both interns and senior emergency providers (EPs) could accurately distinguish between central and peripheral vertigo using the 4-step STANDING algorithm.

Source
Effectiveness and reliability of the 4-step STANDING algorithm performed by emergency interns and seniors for predicting central causes of vertigo. Acad Emerg Med. 2023 Jan 11. doi: 10.1111/acem.14659. Online ahead of print.

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A general neurological exam has low sensitivity but high specificity for stroke in acute dizziness or vertigo. No modality is more sensitive than a HINTS exam by a trained provider.  

Source
Diagnostic accuracy of the physical exam in emergency department patients with acute vertigo or dizziness: Systematic review and meta-analysis for GRACE-3. Acad Emerg Med. 2022 Dec 1. doi: 10.1111/acem.14630. Online ahead of print.

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Vestibular suppressant medications in peripheral vertigo were not associated with symptom resolution, decrease in repeat ED visits, patient satisfaction, or increased quality of life. The authors suggest that positional maneuvers, such as the Epley maneuver, should be the primary treatment for BPPV.

Source
Vestibular suppressants for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Acad Emerg Med. 2022 Oct 21. doi: 10.1111/acem.14608. Online ahead of print.

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Otic quinolones (OQ) were associated with an increased risk of Achilles tendon rupture and all-type tendon rupture, but this was rare. Even with this risk, sometimes an OQ is still the right choice.

Source
Quinolone Ear Drops and Achilles Tendon Rupture. Clin Infect Dis. 2022 Sep 6;ciac709. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac709. Online ahead of print.

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This single center, double blinded, randomized control trial of 240 patients demonstrated several positive outcomes with addition of tranexamic acid (TXA) to standard therapy.

Source
Intranasal Topical Application of Tranexamic Acid in Atraumatic Anterior Epistaxis: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial. Ann Emerg Med. 2022 Jun 22;S0196-0644(22)00247-5. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2022.04.010. Online ahead of print.

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This article covers temporomandibular joint dislocations and 7 high-yield reduction techniques we should all know to best care for these patients in the ED. See reduction photos below.