note to self: don't leave knife in patient's head

Interesting article I ran across regarding a patient's wound management experience in the ED.

This case should be a reminder that wound care is one of the most common areas of EM malpractice and that all wound discharge instructions should include a clause such as "despite thorough wound cleansing and evaluation there is still a risk of retained foreign body and infection. If you note any redness, fever, worsening pain or have any other concerns please return to the ED or see your physician immediately."

Additionally, if imaging is not part of the evaluation, the medical decision making should state the reason (as many patients and lawyers expect it although there are a million and two reasons why it is not clinically indicated).

With this charting, perhaps Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center wouldn't have made the front page of CNN ..... although there is no guarantee; but when invited to the premiere dog and pony show, court, it's probably best to have as many bows on Marley as possible.