AIR-Pro Series: Pediatrics (2016)

Below we have listed our selection of the 14 highest quality blog posts related to 5 advanced level questions on pediatric topics posed, curated, and approved for residency training by the AIR-Pro Series Board. The blogs relate to the following questions:

Pediatric arrhythmias
Procedural sedation in pediatrics
The neonate in distress
Toddlers with a limp
Pediatric syncope

In this module, we have 10 AIR-Pro’s and 4 honorable mentions. To strive for comprehensiveness, we selected from a broad spectrum of blogs identified through FOAMSearch.net.

This module we also had two editorial board guests trained in Pediatric Emergency Medicine to increase the strength of our recommendations – Dr. Robert Cloutier and Dr. Jason Woods.

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By Fareen Zaver, MD|2018-10-28T21:25:16-07:00Jan 28, 2016|Approved Instructional Resources PRO (AIR-Pro Series), Pediatrics|

PEM Pearls: Assessing Radiation Risk in Children Getting CT Imaging – Managing Risk and Making Medical Decisions

The Case: A 5 year old girl presents to the ED with approximately 24 hours of suprapubic and RLQ abdominal pain. Vital signs are: Temp 38.2 C, HR 110, RR 19, BP 100/60, Oxygen Sat 100% on room air. She has vomited twice but has not had diarrhea. She had a history of constipation a year ago that has resolved and mother denies any urinary symptoms or history of UTI’s. The patient is quiet but nontoxic appearing. Your abdominal exam notes mild to moderate RLQ tenderness but no rebound and normal bowel sounds. You order a urinalysis, which is negative and a RLQ US which ‘does not visualize the appendix’. Your suspicion for possible appendicitis is still intermediate; however, now the patient states she is “a little hungry”. Should you order a CT of the abdomen and pelvis? Uuugh!

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By Robert Cloutier, MD MCR|2026-06-16T16:08:43-07:00Jan 25, 2016|CME, Pediatrics, PEM Pearls, Radiology|

Child Whisperer Series: Making the Most of the Holidays in the ED

“Ugh I have to work Christmas Eve and Christmas day.”
“I hate not being with my family for the holidays.”
“Hanukkah won’t be the same this year if I can’t be with my Dad.”
“New Year’s Eve in the ED, sounds like a blast… said no one ever.”

These are just a few of the comments I have heard over the last few weeks leading up to the holidays. The last one is courtesy of myself. While I complain, deep down I know it’s not so bad. If you look hard enough I have found you can find the holiday spirit all over the Emergency Department. There are also easy tips and tricks to incorporate the spirit in the medicine and care that we provide to our patients.

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By Kristen Beckler, CTRS, CCLS|2016-12-25T16:38:05-08:00Dec 23, 2015|Child Whisperer Series, Pediatrics|

PEM Pearls: Cardiac causes of pediatric chest pain

Children with chest pain commonly present to the emergency department. Both the child and family members may think their symptoms are due to a serious illness. Among adolescents seen for their chest pain, more than 50% thought they were having a heart attack or that they had cancer.¹ In reality, only 6% of pediatric chest pain has a cardiac etiology.² Nonetheless, extensive and costly emergency department (ED) evaluations are common and there is wide practice variation.³

But prior to reassuring your patient, what can you do to reassure yourself that your patient doesn’t need a more extensive workup? What would make you suspicious for cardiac causes of pediatric chest pain?

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By Delphine Huang, MD|2026-06-16T16:08:30-07:00Dec 14, 2015|Cardiovascular, CME, Pediatrics, PEM Pearls|

Child Whisperer Series: Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

“Can you help me? I have a patient who is what I like to call, a kid at heart,” asked one of our ED adult nurses. As we walked to the adult side of the ED the nurse let me know that this patient had intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The adult patient required IV access and had already been poked a few times. Although I do not often work with adults, I knew that remembering a few key Child Life principles could help us care for the patient.

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By Kristen Beckler, CTRS, CCLS|2026-06-16T16:08:01-07:00Sep 30, 2015|Child Whisperer Series, Pediatrics|

PEM Pearls: Migraine Treatment for Pediatric EM Patients

You are working your evening shift at the pediatrics emergency department, and you walk into a darkened patient room with a distressed mother and her otherwise healthy 10-year old son who is curled in a ball, holding his head and crying. Her mother tells you that the around-the-clock ibuprofen has barely touched his 2-day headache.

After determining that your patient has no neurologic deficits and that this is most likely a primary headache, what can you do to break his symptoms?

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By Delphine Huang, MD|2017-10-26T14:34:37-07:00Aug 31, 2015|Expert Peer Reviewed (Clinical), Neurology, Pediatrics, PEM Pearls|

Therapeutic Hypothermia After Pediatric Cardiac Arrest Out-of-Hospital (THAPCA-OH) Trial

Currently, guidelines recommend therapeutic hypothermia for comatose adults with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). A recent trial of adults with OHCA showed that therapeutic hypothermia with the use of a targeted temperature of 33°C vs maintained therapeutic normothermia of 36°C, did not improve outcomes. There is a paucity of randomized trials of therapeutic hypothermia in children with OHCA, but sometimes adult trials get extrapolated to pediatrics. There are differences between adult and pediatric populations with OHCA, which makes it difficult to extrapolate the results of the adult trials to a pediatric population.

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By Salim Rezaie, MD|2016-12-19T11:45:33-08:00May 25, 2015|Critical Care/ Resus, Pediatrics|