For children with recurrent throat infections, tonsillectomy leads to fewer throat infections and less school absence during the first post-operative year (as compared to similar children who did not undergo tonsillectomy). However, beneficial effects of surgery do not persist over time.
Genetic disorders, congenital anomalies, and metabolic issues may all present in the first month of life. Discerning normal from abnormal can be very difficult.
The management of the female who presents to the emergency department (ED) in active labor is stressful and overwhelming. Ideally, the ED has a plan in place, based on hospital resources, for the imminent delivery of a newborn. Decisions regarding delivery in the ED or transferring the patient to labor and delivery are based on a variety of factors.
Respiratory illnesses are a common cause for a visit to the pediatric emergency department (ED). A good number of the patients who present for respiratory infections will have illnesses such as upper respiratory infections (i.e., common colds) and bronchiolitis.
Fever is one of the most commonly cited chief complaints for pediatric patients being brought into the emergency department (ED) for evaluation and, thereby, the most likely pediatric complaint to be encountered by the emergency physician (EP) during any given shift.
Group A streptococcus (GAS) may cause disease both by direct infection, termed suppurative disease, and also by the response of the body to an antecedent infection, termed nonsuppurative disease. An invasive GAS infection is defined as one in which GAS can be isolated from a part of the body that is normally sterile, as would be the case in pneumonia but not in pharyngitis.
