Category Procedures / Tips

Autism

The Emergency Department is appealing to many of us because of the speed at which it occurs.  We evaluate rapidly.  We get results quickly (relatively anyway… often we get cranky because they aren’t rapid enough).  We make decisions expeditiously.  Our environment…

Koplik Spots

  We all know that our diagnosis is built upon the foundation of the history and physical exam. One of the challenges in caring for children in the ED is that the physical exam can be, at times, difficult to…

Inguinal Hernia

The patient with a swollen and/or painful scrotum will usually not go unnoticed. We have previously discussed testicular torsion and the association of the acute scrotum and HSP.  We have also discussed the presentation of Varicoceles. Now let us look…

Low Risk for Intra Abdominal Trauma

We have discussed pediatric trauma several times within the PedEM Morsels (Splenic Injury, Head Injury, Pneumothorax, etc), because it is often a source of trepidation, confusion and concern.  This often leads to over-reliance on ionizing radiation to help alleviate concern.  Naturally, this is…

Lactate Level in Kids

Patients’ families often present to us requesting “bloodwork” to make sure that the child is not “sick” or to tell them “what’s wrong.”  While we all know that no lab can be used to proclaim complete certainty of a patient’s…

Rectal Prolapse

  Parental concerns, appropriately, drive a lot of the traffic to our Emergency Departments.  Managing concerns and expectations is part of the art of what we do.  When a child develops Rectal Prolapse, there are often a lot of concerns,…

Occult Abusive Abdominal Injury

  Numerous trauma related topics have been covered within the Morsels (ex, pneumothorax, c-spine injury, aortic trauma, head trauma), but, unfortunately, not all trauma that children suffer is accidental. Non-accidental Trauma / Child Abuse is a prevalent concern for us as we care…