FOAMed has changed emergency medicine by accelerating knowledge translation. But there’s a downside: when learning is driven mostly by what’s new—or what’s popular—you can develop uneven foundational knowledge.

That’s why we created REBEL Core. While REBEL EM will continue to critically appraise new research, REBEL Core is dedicated to the core concepts that support great bedside care across the entire spectrum of emergency medicine and critical care—not just the headline areas like ECGs, ultrasound, resuscitation, and procedures.

Our goal is to help you build a strong, complete foundation—so you can apply both classic principles and new evidence with confidence.

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  • REBEL Core

Accidental Hypothermia

Definition: Accidental hypothermia is an unintentional core body temperature of < 35°C when heat loss to surroundings is greater than heat generation Most frequent cause is environmental exposure Patient with impaired thermoregulation can develop hypothermia in relatively warm environments Elderly, ...

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Environmental

Neutropenic Fever

Neutropenia: An absolute neutrophil count less than 500 cells/mm3 or less than 1000 cells/mm3 with a predicted decline to less than 500 cells/mm3 ANC = WBC x (neutrophil% + band%) Mild: 1000 – 1500 Mod: 500 – 1000 Severe: 100 ...

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Infectious Disease

Cauda Equina Syndrome

Definition: Syndrome characterized by dysfunction of multiple lumbar and sacral nerve roots in the lumbar vertebral canal due to compression Anatomy The spinal cord terminates in the conus medullaris at the T12/L1 vertebral body in adults Cauda equina Collection of ...

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Neurology

Penetrating Neck Injuries

Background: Patients with penetrating neck trauma can present with a variety of injury patterns including hemorrhagic shock, airway obstruction and neurologic injury. Serious injuries may not be clinically obvious making diagnosis and prompt treatment challenging. Due to the large number ...

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Trauma

Salicylate Toxicity

Definition: Salicylate toxicity is characterized by a constellation of symptoms caused by acute or chronic overdose of salicylate containing compounds. The most common salicylate is aspirin, but the group also includes topical forms of salicylates, methyl salicylate (Oil of Wintergreen), ...

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Toxicology

Wernicke Encephalopathy

Definition: Encephalopathy that occurs secondary to thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency. While Wernicke encephalopathy is reversible with treatment, it can progress to the irreversible Korsakoff’s syndrome if left untreated.

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Toxicology

Post-Partum Hemorrhage

Definition: Blood loss > 500 ml after a delivery (or > 250 ml after an abortion). The management of post-abortion hemorrhage is similar to that of post-partum hemorrhage (PPH). Definition ADDENDUM: 03/04/2021 ACOG Updated Definition: “is defined as cumulative blood ...

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Obstetrics and Gynecology

Bacterial Endocarditis

Background: Definition Infective Endocarditis (IE) = Inflammation of the endothelium of the heart, heart valves (or both) (Osman 2013) Epidemiology Annual incidence = 5-7 cases per 100,000 (Fraimow 2013) 40,000 to 50,000 new cases in the US per year. Average ...

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Infectious Disease

Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis

Definition: Acute infection of the ascitic fluid in a patient with liver disease without another source of infection Epidemiology: (Runyon 1988, Runyon 1988, Borzio 2001) Incidence 10-25% risk of at least one episode per year 20% risk in those with ascites ...

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Infectious Disease

Acute Pancreatitis

Acute Pancreatitis Background: Definition: Acute inflammatory process of the pancreas; a retroperitoneal organ with endocrine and exocrine function. Epidimiology (Rosen’s 2018) US Incidence: 5 – 40/100,000 Mortality: 4-7% Progression to severe disease: 10-15% of cases (mortality in this subset 20-50%) ...

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Abdominal and Gastrointestinal

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