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Article of the Week

'Tis the Season . . . For Trauma?

It’s that time of year again, it’s Decorating Season! As we swap our pumpkin-spice everything for twinkling lights and glittery garlands, this article reminds us of a less festive tradition: a dramatic spike in holiday-related injuries.

Ah, yes, the holidays, when we lovingly drag dusty boxes out of the garage, struggle heroically with the Christmas tree, and perform acrobatic stunts on ladders for “just one more strand of lights.” Will it be Ho Ho Ho or Ho Ho OW!? It turns out those cheerful decorations are the most common culprits behind seasonal mishaps.

On the bright side, this study shows that Santa himself remains completely injury-free and causes no direct harm—impressive, considering his advanced age and preference for rooftop parking. So, this year, channel less “Griswold family Christmas” and more “responsible elf.” Stay safe out there!

Click the link to view the article or watch a short AI-generated article summary (4 min 47 sec).

Lauche R, Wardle J, Peng W, Adams J, Cramer H. ‘Santa baby, hurry [extra carefully] down the chimney tonight’ – Prevalence of Christmas related injuries 2007–2016 in the United States: Observational study. Advances in Integrative Medicine. 2019;6(1):40-44.

Trauma Happenings

Revolutionizing Trauma Pain Management: The Role of Fascial Plane Blocks

Fascial plane blocks are rapidly gaining importance as a method for managing acute pain in the emergency department and beyond, especially for trauma patients with rib and hip fractures and abdominal wall injuries. These ultrasound-guided blocks are used to deliver a local anesthetic into tissue planes, providing effective, long-acting, opioid-sparing pain relief with fewer complications compared to traditional nerve blocks.

This brief ReachMD review highlights the growing evidence supporting their use in both adult and pediatric trauma care, especially for injuries involving severe, movement-limiting pain. As hospitals expand their use of regional anesthesia, trauma nurses will play a crucial role in preparing and monitoring patients for signs of effective pain relief or potential complications.

TEP Office Holiday Schedule

The TEP office will be closed to celebrate the holidays from December 24th through 26th, and from December 31st through January 2nd.

Feel free to email or leave a voice message, and we'll respond as soon as we can.

You can reveal a letter or the entire word if you get stuck

Holiday Stress? Go Ahead and Squeeze Your Weenus, Nature’s Built-in Stress Ball

The extra skin covering your elbow, known scientifically as olecranal skin or colloquially as “the weenus,” is essentially nature’s silly putty because there are almost no sensory neurons there. Pinch or knead it as hard as you want, and you’ll barely feel a thing. There are certainly other ways to injure your elbow, like playing tennis or lifting weights, but treating your weenus like a stress ball is fair game.

Find more fun and interesting facts about the human body at the link below. Caveat: the website, Fatherly, isn’t exactly the New England Journal of Medicine, so take these fun "facts" with a grain of salt.

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