Medical problems presenting to paediatric emergency departments: 10 years on

Abstract

Over a 10-year period, there has been a rise in the number of people attending the ED with medical conditions. The 10 most common presenting problems account for 85% of medical attendees. These results suggest the increasing utilisation of ED services for children with common medical presenting problems and should inform further research exploring the pathways for attendance and the thresholds in seeking medical advice in order to inform the commissioning of paediatric emergency and urgent care services.

Etiology of Childhood Bacteremia and Timely Antibiotics Administration in the Emergency Department

“…1 In young children presenting with an acute febrile illness, serious bacterial infection occurs in ∼7%. Bacteremia occurs in 1 in 250 febrile children aged ,5 years and may be difficult to recognize.…”

Child health care: adequate training for all UK GPs is long overdue

“…It is difficult to be certain; indices of quality in paediatric primary care are scant 8 but several studies have identified areas where improvement is required. These include the timely recognition of childhood cancers, management of chronic conditions, 9 and reducing the number of children presenting to accident and emergency departments 10 or admitted to hospital. 11 Perhaps of greatest concern is that the 2008 Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health 12 identified failure to recognise serious illness by healthcare staff not trained in paediatrics as a recurring factor in childhood deaths.…”

The Peculiarity of Presenting Signs and Symptoms among Paediatric Patients Aged Less than 16 Years in a Mixed University Emergency Department

“…In comparison to other countries, there is paucity of Swiss data in the published literature on the distribution of presenting medical and surgical complaints in children who visit a paediatric, adult or mixed ED [1][2][3][4][5]. Authors from an English institution have found that breathing difficulty (20.1%), febrile illness (14.1%) and diarrhoea with or without vomiting (14.0%), rash (8.6%) and cough (6.7%) make up most of the medical problems among children aged 1 to 16 years presenting to the PED [1]. In contrast, the same institution reported that in adolescent patients, injury was the most frequently encountered presenting problem (71.8%).…”

“…The numbers of paediatric presentations to the ED are steadily rising [1,2]. In comparison to other countries, there is paucity of Swiss data in the published literature on the distribution of presenting medical and surgical complaints in children who visit a paediatric, adult or mixed ED [1][2][3][4][5].…”

“…Of the remainder, the commonest presenting problems featured abdominal pain (16.3%), self-harm (10.6%), fits, faints and funny turns (10.4%), breathing difficulty (7.2%), and intoxication (6.0%) [2]. Other authors have reviewed subgroups of patients limited to medical [1] or surgical problems or issues related to one subspecialty only [6][7][8][9][10]. In Switzerland, PEM has only been officially recognised as a subspeciality by the Foederatio Medicorum Helveticorum (FMH, Swiss Medical Association) since January 2014.…”