Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2016
Walk them or no leg to stand on! Diagnostic delay of neurologic conditions in young children.
Diagnosis of low incidence neurological conditions can be a challenge in paediatric emergency medicine. Neurological examination in young children can be very difficult, and medical staff may not previously have encountered conditions like acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis. We propose that the simple process of walking a child (provided they were previously ambulant) is the crucial step in the neurological examination. We present three cases to demonstrate this important part of the examination.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2016
Heterogeneity in cervical spine assessment in paediatric trauma: A survey of physicians' knowledge and application at a paediatric major trauma centre.
Evidence-based decision-making tools are widely used to guide cervical spine assessment in adult trauma patients. Similar tools validated for use in injured children are lacking. A paediatric-specific approach is appropriate given important differences in cervical spine anatomy, mechanism of spinal injury and concerns over ionising radiation in children. The present study aims to survey physicians' knowledge and application of cervical spine assessment in injured children. ⋯ Physicians actively engaged in paediatric trauma care demonstrate marked heterogeneity in their knowledge and application of cervical spine assessment. This is compounded by a lack of paediatric-specific evidence and definitions, involvement of multiple specialties and staff turnover within busy departments. A validated decision-making tool for cervical spine assessment will represent an important advance in paediatric trauma.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2016
Biography Historical ArticleLeo Marneros (22 May 1964-31 March 2016).