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Since 1996, at least 150 children have died as a result of being trapped in hot, parked vehicles. Contrary to what would be expected, these deaths occurred throughout all regions of the United States, making it important for all emergency medicine physicians to be familiar with the resuscitation of a child with a heat-related illness. This article provides an overview of heat-related illnesses in children and prevention and management strategies to facilitate care.
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The emergency department physician can be an advocate for the appropriate use of antibiotics in children by becoming familiar with the pathogenesis of common ENT infections and the latest treatment guidelines for some of these entities. This article reviews common ENT infections, diagnostic criteria, and treatment options.
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This article, the second of two parts, deals with the potentially
disastrous situation in which either the patients airway presents a
substantial challenge or standard intubation methods have failed.
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The diagnosis of genitourinary pathology may be challenging, especially in a busy emergency department. It is important in any infant with a complaint of fussiness, vomiting, or not acting right to undo the diaper and do a careful assessment of the genitalia. It is easy to miss a hernia or testicular torsion if an infant is not fully examined. Identification of children with a potential for underlying pathology is also essential.
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Bronchiolitis is an acute lower respiratory tract infection caused by a virus, resulting in small airway obstruction. Although some classic symptomswheezing, hypoxia, and hyperinflationtypically are associated with bronchiolitis, many young infants may not have wheezing as part of their initial presentation.
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To provide you with critical information on the updated regulations from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Thomson American Health Consultants offers "New EMTALA Regulations: Are They Too Good to be True?" an audio conference on Tuesday, Oct. 21, from 2:30-3:30 p.m., ET.
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"EMTALA: The Essential Guide to Compliance" from Thomson American Health Consultants, publisher of "Pediatric Emergency Medicine Reports," explains how the changes to EMTALA will affect emergency departments and off-campus clinics.
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The appearance of epileptic activity and etiologies of seizures vary with age. Anticonvulsant drug therapy optimally should stop seizure activity and prevent further brain injury that may later manifest as repeat spontaneous seizures or other neurodevelopmental injury. Since not all types of recurrent or persistent seizure activity are known to cause brain injury, the decision to treat must be individualized. Knowledgeable parents of children with known underlying disease and their pediatric neurologists can provide valuable information that can be integral in management decisions.
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The ED physician and trauma surgeon must have evidence-based
information on indications for emergency department thoracotomy that
can be determined rapidly, easily accessible equipment, and the ability
to recognize situations in which EDT clearly is not in the patients
best interest.
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Children often present to the emergency department complaining of headaches. While most headaches in children are not signs of serious, underlying disorders, some headaches may be the first presentation of a migraine headache. Migraine is the most common cause of recurrent, intermittent headaches in children. However, migraine headaches often are underdiagnosed and undertreated in children.
