…or soft tissues over the puncture site — use another approach or refrain. Bacteraemia without suspicion of joint infection (relative; aspiration can seed a sterile joint)…

…Cellulitis, a skin wound or other infection over the injection site. Bacteraemia or suspected septic bursitis or arthritis. A joint prosthesis in the adjacent joint…

…has been achieved, 7 days in bacteraemia or cefotaxime plus metronidazole 1 g × 3 IV plus 1.5 g for the first dose, then 1…

Echocardiography Endocarditis Endocarditis implies that a bacterial infection engages the heart valves and this is a serious condition. The focus of infection on the flap…

…should undergo a diagnostic paracentesis , because spontaneous bacterial peritonitis often lacks abdominal pain and peritonism and instead presents as encephalopathy, renal failure or simply deterioration…

…the right place. In suspected bacterial meningitis it is the time to antibiotics that saves the patient — the puncture must never delay it. Indications Suspected…

…cardiac disease, extrinsic systemic conditions, or pharmacologic effects. Inflammatory heart disease, caused by infections (viral, bacterial, protozoal, fungal, parasitic), autoimmune processes (giant cell myocarditis, sarcoidosis…

…change of treatment. Common precipitants are viral infection, bacterial infection and air pollution, but often no definite trigger can be identified [1,2]. Ask specifically…

… raised by anaemia, age and pregnancy Procalcitonin < 0.25 µg/L Supports a bacterial aetiology; used to guide antibiotic therapy Glucose and lipids Test…

…of pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade The most common cause of pericardial effusion is infections, such as viral, bacterial, and tuberculous infections. Post pericardiotomy syndrome…

…equipment Equipment: a calibrated spirometer with a daily volume check (a 3 litre calibration syringe), a disposable mouthpiece with a bacterial filter, a nose clip…

…associations include: Idiopathic or viral pericarditis Malignant pericardial disease Tuberculosis Purulent or bacterial pericarditis Trauma Cardiac surgery and other iatrogenic cardiovascular procedures Acute aortic disease…