Podcast 623: Acute Mountain Sickness

<p><strong>Contributor: Tom Seibert, MD</strong></p> <p><strong>Educational Pearls:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Acute Mountain sickness (AMS) can cause headache along with fatigue, nausea, vomiting, insomnia</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Typically occurs above 6500 feet (<em>not 65,000</em>) in elevation  </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Acclimation to altitude can help prevent symptoms</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">if not treated, AMS can advance to severe illness involving cerebral or pulmonary edema.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Mild symptoms can be managed with rest but more severe symptoms will require descent, oxygen, acetazolamide and steroids</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Acetazolamide can be used as both a preventative and therapeutic drug</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>References</strong></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Davis C, Hackett P.</span> <a href= "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28411926/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Advances in the Prevention and Treatment of High Altitude Illness</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2017 May;35(2):241-260. doi: 10.1016/j.emc.2017.01.002. PMID: 28411926.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Summarized by Jackson Roos, MS4 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD</span></em></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Emergency Medical Minute is excited to announce that we are now offering</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">AMA PRA Category 1 credits™</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">via online course modules. To access these and for more information, visit our