Health knowledge made personal
Join this community!
› Share page: Email Digg del.icio.us Reddit icon StumbleUpon Technorati
Go
Search posts:

Michelle Lin's Twitter Updates

@precordialthump I totally forgot about the EKG library! Awesome stuff. Keep up the great work (when do you sleep?!) 259 days ago
@emeducation Perfect, thanks for the suggestions! Turns out one is co-authored by Jeff Tabas. He already gave them all books. 259 days ago
Recommendations for an EKG resource to review bread & butter cases for senior residents? Pre-graduation panic setting in for our residents. 259 days ago
@danipedia Good point. I use the studies to convince the trauma consults NOT to get c-spine imaging on EVERYONE (citing distracting injury)! 264 days ago
@doctorflash Hi there. Just wanted to drop a note to thank you for all the extra traffic you're sending to blog. Much appreciated!! 275 days ago
 

Paucis Verbis: Serotonin syndrome

Posted Jan 06 2012 12:00am

What exactly IS serotonin syndrome? 

It's caused by the excess of serotonin and presents classically as
  • Altered mental status
  • Autonomic instability
  • Neuromuscular hyperactivity

Fortunately, there's a nice algorithm (Hunter's decision rule) which helps you decide whether it is serotonin syndrome or not. I also include a table, which I adapted from the New England Journal of Medicine review article on Serotonin Syndrome, which helps you to differentiate it from its mimickers, such as anticholinergic syndrome, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, and malignant hyperthermia.





(click to zoom in)

A video to remind you what clonus looks like


You can download this PV card:  [ MS Word ] [ PDF ] See  other Paucis Verbis cards .

Thanks to Dr. Steve MacDade (Univ of Florida, Jacksonville EM resident) for the idea!
Reference
Ables AZ, Nagubilli R. Prevention, recognition, and management of serotonin syndrome. Am Fam Physician. 2010 May 1;81(9):1139-42. Free AFP text .


Boyer EW, Shannon M. The serotonin syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2005 Mar 17;352(11):1112-20.
Post a comment
Write a comment:

Related Searches