Emergency Paeds Flashcards
- What is croup?
- what time of year is it most common?
- what causes the majority of cases?
- upper respiratory tract infection commonly caused by a viral infection.
- Common in winter months
- Parainfluenza viruses account for the majority of cases (RSV can cause too, as well as influenza and adenovirus)
Epidemiology of croup?
peak incidence at 6 months - 3 years
What are the charachteristic presenting features of croup ?
Characteristic :
* barking cough - occurs in clusters
* inspiratory stridor
* respiratory distress - increased work of breathing
Hoarse voice
Low grade fever
Coryza
Why do you get stridor?
stridor is caused by combination of laryngeal oedema and secretions. This causes airway obstructoin, leading to turbulent airflow and reuslting in audible stridor .
Risk factors for Croup?
- Age: croup most commonly occurs in children aged 6-36 months
- Family history
- Male (the male:female ratio is approximately 1.4:1)
- Congenital airway narrowing
- Hyperactive airways
- Acquired airway narrowing
Clincial features in history: symptoms in Croup?
- Upper respiratory tract symptoms including coryza and nasal congestion/discharge
- Fever
- Hoarse voice
- Barking cough (often described as ‘seal-like’)
- Inspiratory stridor
What is important to remember before examine a child with suspected croup? What is the focus of the examination?
Focus:
* confirm diagnosis
* assess severity
KEY TO REMEMBER IF SUSPECT CROUP:
* do not agitate child - worsen resp distress
* guidelines say minnimal handling - throat exam rarerly needed (rarely considered but never if suspect epiglottitis)
Walk through clinical examination of a child with suspected croup and typical findings
EXAM:
* A rapid ABCDE assessment should be performed to identify and manage any life-threatening features, for example, impending respiratory failure or significant airway obstruction.
Typical findings
* Increased work of breathing: intercostal and sternal recession
* Agitation: in severe croup
* Lethargy: in severe croup
CKS suggest what cirteria to grade severity of Croup?
(Categories based on Mild, Moderate, Severe )
When do CKS advise you should admit a child with Croup?
ADMIT
* any child with moderate or severe croup.
Other features to prompt admission include:
* < 6 months of age
* known upper airway abnormalities (e.g. Laryngomalacia, Down’s syndrome)
* uncertainty about diagnosis
Differencials for Croup? try and think of differenciators for a few
Epiglottitis:
* cause: Haemophilus influenzae
* NO barking cough
* child = appear anxious, pale and ‘toxic’.
* difficulty swallowing causes drooling, fever, and ‘tripod’
* don’t examine the mouth / upset the child - risk of airway complete obstruction.
Upper airway abscess:
* (e.g. peritonsillar, parapharyngeal and retropharyngeal):
* fevers, stiff neck, torticollis, drooling and ‘hot potato voice’.
* NO barking cough.
Foreign body inhalation:
* sudden onset stridor and respiratory distress often w/ hx of choking.
* May be a barking cough and stridor depending on the location of the obstruction.
* Importantly- no fever.
Other:
allergic reaction
injury to the airway
congenital airway anomalies
bronchogenic cyst
early Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Investigations for Croup?
imaging
Mostly diagnosed clinically
Imaging - Chest x-ray:
* a posterior-anterior view will show subglottic narrowing, commonly called the ‘steeple sign’ (see pic)
* in contrast, a lateral view in acute epiglottis will show swelling of the epiglottis - the ‘thumb sign’
* A lateral airway X-ray in children may be considered to rule out foreign body inhalation.
What is management for Croup?
- Croup is a self-limiting illness and treatment depends on severity
- Aim is to reduce the severity and avoid the need for intubation.
- Corticosteroids (e.g. dexamethasone) are the first-line pharmacological option to reduce the severity of symptoms.
What is management of mild Croup?
- Oral dexamethasone 0.15 mg/kg as a single dose
- If otherwise well, discharge home with a written advice sheet, safety netting and early follow up in the community (within 24 hours)
What is management of moderate Croup?
- Oral dexamethasone 0.15-0.3 mg/kg as a single dose
- Observe for improvement and no deterioration.
- Discharge criteria include: no stridor at rest, normal 02 sats, normal colour, normal activity, able to tolerate fluids orally and caregivers understand when to return.
- If the patient worsens during observation, may need nebulised adrenaline 5ml of 1:1000 and further observation.
Management of severe Croup?
- Nebulised adrenaline 0.5ml/kg (up to 5ml) of 1:1000 undiluted (this can be repeated if required)
- O2 to correct hypoxia (if present)
- Oral or IV/IM dexamethasone 0.3-0.6 mg/kg
- Monitoring for min 4 hours after giving adrenaline - risk of rebound of symptoms after the adrenaline wears off.
If children with severe croup require two or more doses of adrenaline, consider paediatric critical care review. An early review by the intensive care team is important as the patient may require intubation to protect the airway.
What are criteria for hospital admission with Croup ?
- Severe croup
- Moderate to severe croup but with deterioration or repeated doses of adrenaline
- Toxic appearing child
- Oxygen requirement
- Inability to tolerate oral fluid intake.
Additional factors to consider include young age, number of healthcare attendances, carer anxiety or an inability for carers to bring the child back to the hospital in case of deterioration.
When should Croup resolve?
In most children, croup resolves within 3 days.
What are complications of Croup?
- Secondary bacterial infections (including bacterial tracheitis, bronchopneumonia and pneumonia)
- Post-obstructive pulmonary oedema
- Pneumothorax
- Pneumomediastinum
Recognising an acutely ill child is important to triage and treat
Fever is a common presentation of infectious diseases in young children.
Thinking about ‘red flag’ signs, what can you recall of the NICE ‘green, amber, red’ guidance on feverish children <5 years?
From pass med:
Amber signs include:
Nasal flaring
Lung crackles on auscultation
Not responding normally to social cues
Reduced nappy wetting
Dry mucous membranes
Pallor reported by parent or carer
Red signs include:
Moderate or severe chest wall recession
Does not wake if roused
Reduced skin turgor
Mottled or blue appearance
Grunting
What are some common presentations of an acutely unwell child?
- High fever (often sudden onset)
- non blanching rash (sepsis)
- Altered level of consciousness
- anaphlyaxis
- poisoning
- inhaled foreign body / choking
- severe dehydration
- acute asthma attack
- burns and scalds
If early signs of acute illness in children are missed, the child can progress to cardio-respiratory arrest.
Cardiac arrest often follows which 2 things ?
(as opposed to being due to a primary cardiac problem)
- Circulatory failure (shock)
- Respiratory failure
thus recognising signs early can prevent cardiac failure
We know that cardiac arrest in children is caused most often by either 1. Circulatory failure or 2. Respiratory failure.
Use these as your schema to think of broad causes of cardiac arrest
1. Fluid loss / fluid maldistribution 2. resp distress / resp depression
What are causes of circulatory failure / shock?
What are clinical features of circulatory failure / shock?
What clinical signs suggest what cause?
Clinical features:
* Tacchycadia
* thready pulse
* delayed Cap refil (<2 sec) check centrally as more reliable
* Cool extremeties
* hypotension (late sign)
* Tachypnoea
* Restlessness
* reduced urine output
* metabolic acidosis
Signs that suggest a cause
* Fever in sepsis
* purpuric rash (meningococcus)
* Hepatomegaly (Heart failure)
* Focus of infection
How is circulatory failure / shock managed?
- high flow 02, resp support
- IV fluid bolus
- Consider inotropic support
- Anitbiotics for septic shock
- adrenaline and hydrocortisone for anaphylaxis
What are causes of respiratory failure?
What are clincial features of Respiratory failure ?
- SOB
- Tachypnoea
- Cyanosis
- Nasal flaring
- grunting
- Intercostal muscle recession
- Restlessness or confusion
Zero to finals signs of resp distress:
* Raised respiratory rate
* Use of accessory muscles of breathing, such as the sternocleidomastoid, abdominal and intercostal muscles
* Intercostal and subcostal recessions
* Nasal flaring
* Head bobbing
* Tracheal tugging
* Cyanosis (due to low oxygen saturation)
* Abnormal airway noises
What are clincial findings / signs on examination that point to different causes of respiratory failure?
- Colour: pallor or cyanosis.
- Respiratory drive: pattern and timing of breathing think central or brainstem cause.
- Inspiration: upper airway obstruction produces stridor e.g. croup / epiglottitis
- Expiration: lower airway obstruction leads to cough, wheeze, and a prolonged expiratory phase e.g asthma, pnuemonia.
- Chest wall movement: chest and abdominal wall dynamics may indicate flail chest, diaphragmatic palsy, pneumothorax, FB inhalation (asymmetrical chest wall movement).
- Position and level of agitation e.g. tripod epiglottitis
- Mental state - neurological
- HR and perfusion -impending arrest.
Investigations for respiratory failure ?
Non-invasive / bedside:
* pulse oximetry: SpO2.
* (PEFR) or spirometry: assessment of severity of asthma.
Lab:
* ABG: assessment of acid–base, PP 02 and C02
* capillary blood sample is a good alternative for pH and pCO2 if extremity is warm and blood
flows freely.
* Blood tests: FBC, U&E, glucose, cultures.
Imaging
* CXR: for diagnosis (e.g. severe pneumonia); for assessment of complications (e.g. pulmonary oedema, pneumothorax)
* POCUS of thorax: for diagnosis (e.g. pulmonary effusion).
Management of respiratory failure?
- assess severity by examination, blood gases / 02 sats
- Give high flow 02
- intubate an ventilate if rising C02
- Treat underlying cause e.g. antibiotics for infection, bronchodilators and steroids for asthma, remove FB
The collapsed child: what are common causes of cardiorespiratory arrest?
Not all children who collpse proceed to fill respiratory or cardiac arrest. What are some other cuases of sudden collapse in children?
- Syncope
- epilepsy
- choking
- cardiac arrythmias (rare)
- factitious illness (rare)
What are the principals of paediatric basic life support?
Flow chart of what do
ratio of 15:2 breaths for all except newborns, where ratio is 3:1.
How to give chest compressions
Hint: age dependant
Compress lower ½ of sternum to ⅓ of the chest’s depth
- Infants, 2 fingers or place both thumbs on sternum and encircle the entire thorax with your hands
- Smaller children: use the heel of 1 hand in the middle of a line joining the nipples
- Children (>8yrs), use adult 2-handed method
How do you immediately manage a child who is choking?
What are the principals of ADVANCED paediatric life support ?
Flow chart of steps, immediate treatment, during CPR
IV adrenaline 10 micrograms/kg (0.1 mL / kg-1 of 1 in 10,000 solution).
What are reversible causes of cardiac arrest in children?
- hypoxia
- hypovolaemia
- hypo/hyperkalaemia / metabolic
- tension pneumothorax
- toxins
- tamponade - cardiac
- thromboembolism
Why is Intraosseous transufion useful? give examples of times it is used
- useful for immediate vascular access in life threatening emergencies where rapid IV access cant be obtained.
- rapid, safe and effective way of gaining vascualr access
- Cardio-pulmonary arrest, severe burns, prolonged status epilepticus, hypovolameic and septic shock
What can you do with intraossues transfusion / acess?
i.e. give meds etc
- safe to administer all IV medicines
- give fluids
- give blood products
- take bloods: crossmatch, FBC, U&E, blood cultures
- NOTE: need to tell lab they are marow samples as blood gas can be taken but need to let lab know its marrow)
Contraindications for interosseus access?
Osteoporosis, osteogenesis imperfecta, infection at insertion site, vascular injury proximal to the insertion site, fracture in target bone, or previous IO insertion at site within 48 hours.
Site for interosseus access?
The proximal tibia is the preferred site; anteromedial surface of the tibia, 1–2cm medial to and 1–2cm distal to the tibial tuberosity.