There's a whole pile of blocks in this month's papers, with the first being a trial of Erector-Spinae Plane (ESP) blocks, not for rib fractures as you might expect but Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) pain instead. Following on from that is a retrospective study comparing the resource utilisation of haematoma blocks, Bier’s blocks and procedural sedation for patients with forearm fractures. The next paper sets the performance of unassisted radiographers against those armed with artificial intelligence algorithms when diagnosing pneumothorax, and the results show an interesting demographic trend. Concluding the discussion topics this month is a letter regarding "on-scene time" for ambulances when assessing patients for suspected stroke - a situation where every minute counts.

Read the issue highlights: October 2024 Primary Survey

EASIER trial (Erector-spinAe analgeSia for hepatopancreaticobiliary pain In the Emergency Room)

Haematoma block is the most efficient technique for closed forearm fracture reduction: a retrospective cohort study

Evaluation of the impact of artificial intelligence-assisted image interpretation on the diagnostic performance of clinicians in identifying pneumothoraces on plain chest X-ray: a multi-case multi-reader study 

On-scene times during ambulance assessment of suspected stroke patients across England from December 2021 to November 2022

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