Emergency medicine clinics of North America
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Child abuse presents commonly to emergency departments. Emergency providers are confronted with medical, social, and legal dilemmas with each case. ⋯ Emergency providers are mandatory reporters of a reasonable suspicion of abuse. The role of the emergency provider is to identify abuse, facilitate a thorough investigation, treat medical needs, protect the patient, provide an unbiased medical consultation to law enforcement, and to provide an ethical testimony if called to court.
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Otolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat) emergencies are a common complaint in the emergency department. These can present as a result of infection, trauma, foreign bodies, or postprocedure complications. The emergency department physician is called on to offer initial if not definitive management of these patients. This article discusses common ear, nose, and throat emergencies presenting to the emergency department.
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Children with head injuries frequently present to emergency departments. Even though most of these children have minor injuries, head injury is the most common cause of traumatic deaths in pediatric patients. ⋯ The provider must be vigilant to diagnose those who have life-threatening intracranial injuries or are victims of abusive head trauma. The goal of the emergency physician is to diagnose and treat the consequences of the primary injury and to limit or prevent secondary injury.
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Seizures are a commonly encountered condition within the emergency department and, because of this, can engender complacency on the part of the physicians and staff. Unfortunately, there is significant associated morbidity and mortality with seizures, and they should never be regarded as routine. This point is particularly important with respect to seizures in pediatric patients. The aim of this review is to provide a current view of the various issues that make pediatric seizures unique and to help elucidate emergent evaluation and management strategies.
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The evaluation of the child with acute abdominal pain often poses as a diagnostic challenge due to the wide range of diagnoses. Surgical emergencies need to be rapidly identified and managed appropriately to minimize morbidity and mortality. Presenting symptoms, clinical examination, and laboratory findings can guide selection of diagnostic imaging. This article reviews common surgical causes of abdominal pain in children.