Triads in Medicine – Rapid Review for Medical Students

June 12, 2020June 7, 2020 ~ Sumaiya Hafiz, UAE ~ Leave a comment

One of the most convenient ways of learning and remembering the main components of disease and identifying a medical condition on an exam are Triads, and medical students/interns/residents swear by them.

Be it a question during rounds, a multiple-choice exam question to be solved, or even in medical practice, the famous triads help physicians recall important characteristics and clinical features of a disease or treatment in an instant.

Since exam season is here, this could serve as a rapid review to recall the most common medical conditions.

While there are a vast number of triads/pentads available online, I have listed the most important (high-yy) ones that every student would be asked about at least once in the duration of their course.

1) Lethal Triad also known as The Trauma Triad of Death
Hypothermia + Coagulopathy + Metabolic Acidosis

2) Beck’s Triad of Cardiac Tamponade
Muffled heart sounds + Distended neck veins + Hypotension

3) Virchow’s Triad – Venous Thrombosis
Hypercoagulability + stasis + endothelial damage

4) Charcot’s Triad – Ascending Cholangitis
Fever with rigors + Right upper quadrant pain + Jaundice

5) Cushing’s Triad – Raised Intracranial Pressure
Bradycardia + Irregular respiration + Hypertension

6) Triad of Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Severe Abdominal/Back Pain + Hypotension + Pulsatile Abdominal mass

7) Reactive Arthritis
Can’t See (Conjunctivitis) + Can’t Pee (Urethritis) + Can’t Climb a Tree (Arthritis)

8) Triad of Opioid Overdose
Pinpoint pupils + Respiratory Depression + CNS Depression

9) Hakims Triad – Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus
Gait Disturbance + Dementia + Urinary Incontinence

10) Horner’s Syndrome Triad
Ptosis + Miosis + Anydrosis

11) Mackler’s Triad – Oesophageal Perforation (Boerhaave Syndrome)
Vomiting + Lower Thoracic Pain + Subcutaneous Emphysema

12) Pheochromocytoma
Palpitations + Headache + Perspiration (Diaphoresis)

13) Leriche Syndrome
Buttock claudication + Impotence + Symmetrical Atrophy of bilateral lower extremities

14) Rigler’s Triad – Gallstone ileus
Gallstones + Pneumobilia + Small bowel obstruction

15) Whipple’s Triad – Insulinoma
Hypoglycemic attack + Low glucose + Resolving of the attack on glucose administration

16) Meniere’s Disease
Tinnitus + Vertigo + Hearing loss

17) Wernicke’s Encephalopathy- Thiamine Deficiency
Confusion + Ophthalmoplegia + Ataxia

18) Unhappy Triad – Knee Injury
Injury to Anterior Cruciate Ligament + Medial collateral ligament + Medial or Lateral Meniscus

19) Henoch Schonlein Purpura
Purpura + Abdominal pain + Joint pain

20) Meigs Syndrome
Benign ovarian tumor + pleural effusion + ascites

21) Felty’s Syndrome
Rheumatoid Arthritis + Splenomegaly + Neutropenia

22) Cauda Equina Syndrome
Low back pain + Bowel/Bladder Dysfunction + Saddle Anesthesia

23) Meningitis
Fever + Headache + Neck Stiffness

24) Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome
Delta Waves + Short PR Interval + Wide QRS Complex

25) Neurogenic Shock
Bradycardia + Hypotension + Hypothermia

ICH

September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 ~ iEM Education Project Team ~ Leave a comment

Selected Cardiovascular Emergencies

July 26, 2018July 26, 2018 ~ iEM Education Project Team ~ Leave a comment

Cardiovascular Emergencies selected from SAEM and IFEM undergraduate curriculum recommendations are uploaded into the website. You can read, listen or download all these chapters freely. More specific disease entities are on the way.

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA)

June 30, 2018

by Lit Sin Quek Case Presentation A 75-year-old obese man comes to the emergency department. He has history C.O.P.D., hypertension. He is a smoker and on

Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS)

July 8, 2018

by Khalid Mohammed Ali, Shirley Ooi – Singapore Case Presentation A 46 years old man with a past medical history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia developed

Acute Heart Failure (AHF)

July 19, 2018

by Walid Hammad – USA Case Presentation An ambulance crew rushes into your emergency department (ED) with a 56-year-old man. He is severely short of

Aortic Dissection

July 23, 2018

by Shanaz Sajeed Introduction Aortic dissection carries high morbidity and mortality. Although patients generally present with acute symptoms and classic signs, a subset of patients

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

July 14, 2018

by Elif Dilek Cakal Case Presentation An 85-year-old woman, with a history of congestive heart failure, presented with right leg pain and swelling of 2

Hypertensive Emergencies

July 26, 2018

by Sadiye Yolcu Introduction Systemic hypertension is a common medical problem. It affects over 1 million people worldwide. ER clinicians commonly encounter this problem. Rapid

Pulmonary Embolism

July 14, 2018

by Elif Dilek Cakal Case Presentation A 45-year-old female with no prior medical history presented to the emergency department (ED) with three days of constant shortness

Do you need more?

X-ray findings of AD

July 25, 2018July 25, 2018 ~ iEM Education Project Team ~ Leave a comment

In case you didn’t encounter a patient with sharp inter scapular pain today!

A 67-year-old male patient presented with sharp interscapular pain. BP: 189/107 mmHg, HR: 118 bpm, RR: 26/min, T: 37, SpO2: 93% in room air. He has a history of hypertension and diabetes mellitus. The chest x-ray is shown below.

Let’s remember findings of aortic dissection in the chest x-ray.

Depression of the left mainstem bronchus
Displaced intimal calcification
Indistinct or irregular aortic contour
Left apical pleural cap
Opacification of the “AP window” (i.e., clear space between the aorta and the pulmonary artery)
Pleural effusion (left > right)
Tracheal or esophageal deviation
Widened aortic knob or mediastinum (present in only 63% and 56% of patients with type A and type B dissections, respectively)

iEM Education Project Team uploads many clinical picture and videos to the Flickr and YouTube. These images are free to use in education. You can also support this global EM education initiative by providing your resources. Sharing is caring!

What is your next move?

July 25, 2018July 25, 2018 ~ iEM Education Project Team ~ Leave a comment

In case you didn’t encounter an elderly with abdominal pain today!

A 72-year-old male patient presented with mild abdominal pain. BP: 145/68 mmHg, HR: 83 bpm, RR: 16/min, T: 37, SpO2: 98% in room air. He has a history of hypertension and diabetes mellitus around 25 years. On the exam, you appreciated a pulsatile mass and checked for the aorta with bedside ultrasound. Here is the cine record of the patient.

What is your next action?

Feel free to give your answers at the comment box below.

Sharp Chest Pain

July 24, 2018July 24, 2018 ~ iEM Education Project Team ~ Leave a comment

Aortic Dissection chapter written by Shanaz Sajeed from Singapore is just uploaded to the Website!

A 56-year-old male presented to the emergency department with sudden onset of severe tearing chest pain radiating to the back. He had a history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia. He was a smoker. Upon arrival, he appeared to be diaphoretic and in severe pain. He denied any prior history of chest pain. He had been without any infective symptoms lately. He was compliant with his medications, namely, amlodipine and simvastatin. At triage, his blood pressure was noted to be 80/60 mmHg with a pulse rate of 130 bpm. His oxygen saturation was 95% on room air, and his respiratory rate was 22 breaths per minute. On examination, he had muffled heart sounds, jugular venous distention, and radio-radial pulse delay.

Aortic Dissection

by Shanaz Matthew Sajeed from Singapore.

Is this AAA going to be ruptured?

June 30, 2018July 1, 2018 ~ iEM Education Project Team ~ Leave a comment

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA)

Lit Sin Quek

A 75-year-old obese man comes to the emergency department. He has history COPD, hypertension. He is a smoker and on regular follow-up with primary care. He describes sudden onset severe flank and back pain for past 2 hours. He denies any chest pain or dyspnea. He informs the physician about his chronic abdominal pain. His initial vital signs are HR 98 bpm, RR 24/min, BP 190/105 mmHg, T 36.9C. His examination revealed mild abdominal pain without rigidity or rebound tenderness. Bedside ultrasonography performed and the result is shown on the side.

What is the risk of rupture?

Touch Me

Risk of Rupture

increases with emphysema, smoking, hypertension. Regarding Powell’s (2003, 2007) study aneurisms above 5.5 cm have 9.4% to 32.4% rupture risk in one year.

Answer