SGEM Hot off the Press: Delayed complications of sternal fractures

Abstract

As part of the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine (CJEM) developing social media strategy,1 we are collaborating with the Skeptics' Guide to Emergency Medicine (SGEM) to summarize and critically appraise the current emergency medicine literature using evidence-based medicine principles. In the Hot Off the Press (HOP) series, we select original research manuscripts published in CJEM to be summarized and critically appraised on the SGEM website/podcast2 and discussed by the study authors and the online EM community. A similar collaboration is underway between the SGEM and Academic Emergency Medicine. What follows is a summary of the selected article and the immediate post-publication critical appraisal from the SGEM podcast, as well as an overview of the subsequent discussion from the SGEM blog and other social media. Through this series, we hope to enhance the value, accessibility, and application of important, clinically relevant EM research. In this, the fifth SGEM HOP hosted collaboratively with CJEM, we discuss Racine et al. paper describing delayed complications and functional outcomes of isolated sternal fractures after emergency department discharge.