Aside from being the Mississippi of medicine - at least in terms of spelling - intussusception should always be on your differential in toddlers and young children who present with belly pain, fussiness or even obtundation.
This collection of articles focuses on appendicitis - something that you'll probably encounter at some point in the ED.
Kids eat stuff they're not supposed to. Most of the time foreign bodies pass harmlessly through the GI tract. Occasionally they will get stuck. It is your job to figure out who has an impacted foreign body, and how to diagnose and manage it. Listen to this podcast to learn more.
We often prescribe prophylactic antibiotics for dog bites. Is there evidence to support this practice?
Can the Pediatric Appendicitis Score help you in the diagnosis of appendicitis in adolescent females?
Yes, I'm on Spring Break this week. So, no "new" content. But what if you haven't dove into the PEMBlog Archives? Check out a few of my educational series posts here.
In adults calculating the ankle-brachial index (ABI) is a relatively simple way to confirm the clinical suspicion of lower extremity arterial occlusive disease. In pediatric lower extremity limb injury patients where vascular compromise is a concern (think bad fractures, lawnmower calamities) it may also be a helpful test. Technique Measure the systolic blood pressure at the ankle Place a blood pressure cuff [...]
Why we do what we do has returned - this time focusing on the use of ultrasound in appendicitis, which has become the test de rigeur these days in most Pediatric Emergency Departments. I won't belabor the point on how important it is to correctly diagnose appendicitis. It peaks between ages 9-12, and can lead to perforation within 36-72 hours. Missed [...]
Back into the fray once more we go - or should I say back into the colon goes the ileum... Yes, the third article in the top 10 from the 2014 AAP NCE focuses on intussusception. Back when I was an intern™ after a child was reduced with air contrast enema they were subsequently admitted for 24 hours to the [...]
Let's move on to the next in the series of top ten articles presented at the 2014 AAP NCE in San Diego. Again, I'll review the article and briefly and highlight how you can use the results in the ED. By now, most of us have acknowledged that ultrasound is a fantastic imaging modality for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. It is not, however the [...]
