This is the EM cases, EM Quick Hits podcast, where our team of experts and educators bring

you clear, concise, and condensed, practice-changing knowledge on all those EM topics

that you may not be totally comfortable with. Cases, the latest evidence, procedural tips and tricks,

pitfalls to avoid, and the key take-home points and references on the EM cases website.

Quick, let's get on with it. First up, we've got Swami on Ludwig's Angina, an approach,

airway, and imaging issues.

I recently had a fantastic case I wanted to share with you guys. The patient in question was a

63-year-old man with no past medical history, and he presented with sore throat and dental pain.

When I looked at the computer, his vital signs looked pretty good, except for a fever of about

100.6. However, on entering the room, you could immediately tell the vital signs didn't tell

much of the story. The patient wasn't to Kipnik or terribly uncomfortable, but his face was

quite swollen. Immediately, we could see it wasn't just the face that was swollen, but the upper

neck as well. The patient's

son was there and was able to tell us that his father had some dental pain about a week ago and had

an appointment to see a dentist tomorrow, but over the last couple of days, the swelling got worse,

and he thought that it was time to come in and see a doctor now because he was having a tough

time eating. Our initial examination was pretty brief, but the keys were that externally we could see

that the floor of the mouth was quite swollen.

It was red and warm, and palpation showed that it was not only tender, but there was also

subcutaneous air present.

I asked the patient to open his mouth, but he really wasn't able to.

He had significant trismus,

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