Ok, so maybe Homer has the wrong idea about “Fat Embolism”… I think he should be more worried about a devastating Food Impaction… but, with the Holidays upon us and the prevalence of fatty foods surrounding, me I began to…
Part of the challenge with evaluating children is the ever present concern for an unusual emergent condition masquerading as a common condition with non-specific symptoms. It is, thus, important for us to remain vigilant for these conditions, while proceeding in…
Substance abuse is not only an adult patient problem. Alcohol and illegal drug abuse, unfortunately, also afflicts our pediatric population too. While many of us are accustomed to dealing with the ramifications of such substance abuse in our patients, teenagers…
Respiratory Distress is a common emergent complaint encountered when caring for children. Whether it is Out of Control Asthma or Pneumonia, or Severe Croup or Aspirated Foreign Bodies, or Bronchiolitis or Heart Failure, or Spontaneous Pneumothorax or Traumatic Pneumothorax … (goodness, that is a…
We doctors love to order tests, often only to confirm things we already know. Did that lactate level for the child in SHOCK help your decision to start vasopressors? Better yet, did that WBC count really help us determine whether the…
Cough is a very common symptom in children. Certainly, we need to consider that an ominous cause may be lurking (Asthma, Occult Aspirated Foreign Body, Croup, Sinusitis, Pneumonia, Acute Chest Syndrome, etc.). Most often, though, the cough is due to a…
“Can’t Intubate Can’t Ventilate” is one of the frightening statements that causes massive surges of adrenaline in everyone. Unfortunately, most neural synapses don’t function well with that large surge of adrenaline, and it is, therefore, imperative to contemplate how to manage…
Aw, the Winter Season in the Ped ED… how we all love the viral pathology! Let us recall, however, that we must be vigilant in the face of the seemingly constant waves of children with fevers and rhinorrhea. We…
Obviously, the audience (you all) who read these Morsels love critical care topics (Post-Tonsillectomy Hemorrhage has been the most viewed Morsel since it was written in 2012), but excellent care in the Peds ED often requires some considerations that emergency…
Once again, a common theme of the Morsels is a need for vigilance. Unfortunately, sometimes those seemingly straight forward cases of vomiting in fact are due to an Inborn Error of Metabolism and it requires our vigilance to make the diagnosis.…
