emDocs - June 28, 2021 - By Leah M. Bralow
Reviewed by: Jay Khadpe; Alex Koyfman; Brit Long
"Take Home Points:
- Hyperthyroidism represents a broad spectrum of disease from subclinical, which requires no ED intervention, to thyroid storm, a life-threatening medical emergency.
- There are no specific laboratory “cutoffs” that define thyroid storm. This is a clinical diagnosis. The Burch-Wartofsky score can help support clinical gestalt.
- There are a myriad of Thyroiditis syndromes which are caused by a destructive process to the thyroid gland. These diseases are self-limited and are not associated with true hyperthyroidism. As such, treatment focuses on symptom management with β-blockers and pain control with NSAIDs.
- Thyroid storm treatment can be remembered as “ABC WI”: Antithyroid Drugs, β-Blockers, Corticosteroids, Wait 1 hour, Iodine.
- The first step in managing a patient with thyroid storm is aggressive supportive care"