The external jugular vein, located in the anterior and lateral neck, receives blood from the deeper parts of the face as well as the scalp — the external jugular vein forms from the combination of the posterior auricular and retromandibular vein. The external jugular vein starts in the parotid at the level of the angle […]

Thermal Thermal burns cause both local injuries and, if severe (> 20% of body surface area), a systemic response. The local injuries can be roughly separated into three zones of injury analogous to a circular target pattern. The innermost injury is the zone of coagulation or necrosis, representing the area of irreversible cell death. Surrounding this is […]

Primary Blast Injury Primary blast injury is caused by the blast wave moving through the body. Since only high order explosives create a blast wave, primary blast injuries are unique to high order explosions. The blast wave causes damage to more extensively to air-filled organs. The resulting barotrauma can affect the lungs, auditory organs, the […]

Dog bites predominate (60 to 90%), followed by cat bites (5 to 20%). Children are more commonly bitten on the head, face, and neck due to their proportionately larger heads and shorter stature, while adult bites are more common on the hands and arms. Dog bites happen more in men and children. The patient usually knows the dogs, […]

The Rule of Nines, also known as the Wallace Rule of Nines, is a tool used by trauma and emergency medicine providers to assess the total body surface area (TBSA) involved in burn patients.  Measurement of the initial burn surface area is important in estimating fluid resuscitation requirements since patients with severe burns will have massive fluid losses […]

Contusion A bruise is a mark on your skin caused by blood trapped under the surface. It happens when an injury crushes small blood vessels but does not break the skin. Those vessels break open and leak blood under the skin. Bruises are often painful and swollen. You can get skin, muscle and bone bruises. […]

Burns are injuries of the skin involving the two layers: the thin, outer epidermis and the thicker, deeper dermis. 86% of burns are caused by thermal injury, while about 4% are electrical and 3% are chemical. A variety of factors guides the evaluation and management of burns. First is the type of burn such as thermal, chemical, electrical or […]