Paediatrics Flashcards
Describe cot death (Sudden Unexplained Infant Death), it’s risk factors and Preventative measures
Refers to unexpected death of infant less than 12 months where a cause is not immediately obvious prior to investigation. It is due to infection, metabolic errors, accidental suffocation and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome which is a still unexpected death after investigation.
Risk increased if:
- poor
- parents are smokers
- baby is male or premature
- winter
- previously sibling affected by SIDS
- co-existing URI
- co-sleeping
Recommend:
- do not overheat baby’s bedroom, aim for 16-20C
- do not use too much bedding
- avoid co-sleeping
- sleep baby facing up
Describe Oppositional Defiant Disorder, its symptoms, and management
A lesser version of conduct disorder, Enduring pattern of negative hostile and defiant behaviour without serious violation of societal norms or the rights of others, which may only be present in one environment.
Symptoms:
- Temper
- argues with adults
- defies adult requests
- deliberately annoys others
- shifts blame
- easily annoyed
- angry/resentful
Management:
- Parent training programs (Triple P)
- Individual cognitive therapy for older children, aims to support young person to approach difficulties and stress through systematic problem solving rather than through jumping to conclusions and engaging in aggression
- multi-agency therapy, work with young person, family, parents, school, criminal justice system
Describe Conduct Disorder, its symptoms, and it’s management
It is a type of behavioural disorder, defined as persistent failure to control behaviour appropriately within socially defined rules.
Symptoms:
- Characterised by persistent antisocial behaviour that violates the rights of others, and age-appropriate social norms.
- Syndrome of core symptoms, defiance of will of someone in authority, aggression, antisocial behaviour.
- There may be aggression to people and animals, destruction of property, theft, truancy, provocative/disobedient behaviour.
Management:
- Parent training programs (Triple P)
- Individual cognitive therapy for older children, aims to support young person to approach difficulties and stress through systematic problem solving rather than through jumping to conclusions and engaging in aggression
- multi-agency therapy, work with young person, family, parents, school, criminal justice system
Describe Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), it’s symptoms, and management.
Most common neurobehavioural disorder in childhood. Commoner in learning-disabled children and if prenatal cannabis exposure.
Symptoms:
- core diagnostic criteria are impulsivity, inattention, and hyperactivity.
- Attention deficit signs: unable to listen/attend closely to detail, unable to sustain attention in play activities, unable to follow instructions, unable to finish homework, unable to organise tasks ending sustained application, unable to ignore extraneous stimuli, unable to remember simple tasks.
- Hyperactivity signs: squirming/fidgeting, on the go all the time, talks incessantly, climbs overly everything, restless, no quiet hobbies, impulsive, blurts out answers, too impatient to take turns or to queue.
Management:
- Diagnosis and treatment should be initiated by a specialist e.g. Psychiatrist/paediatrician
- advice on positive parenting and behavioural techniques
- 1st line regiment is parent training/education programmes +/- CBT for older children
- Drugs such as methyphenidate (Ritalin) may be useful if non-drug treatment fail, or atomoxetine, or combination if severe.
Describe haemolytic uraemia syndrome and its symptoms
It is most common cause of AKI in children. Endothelial damage commonly (90%) from E.coli strain O157 leads to thrombosis, platelet consumption and fibrin strand deposition mainly in renal microvasculature. Strands cause mechanical destruction of RBC’s giving triad of haemolysis, thrombocytopenia and AKI.
Symptoms: Clinical features include abdominal pain, bloody diarrhoea and AKI.
Describe the six-week baby check, it’s main purpose, and what it entails.
It includes a physical examination, a review of development, an opportunity to give health promotion advice, and an opportunity for the parent to express concerns
Main Purpose:
- detect congenital heart disease
- detect development dysphasia of the hip (DDH)
- detect congenital cataract
- detect undescended testes.
Physical Examination:
- a weight check
- measurement of head circumference
- a general assessment of appearance I.e. Colour, behaviour, breathing, activity
- assessment of tone, movements and posture
- assessment of head, fontanelles, face nose palate and symmetry
- assessment of the eyes for presence of red reflex and visual fixing
- assessment of the heart, it’s position, murmurs, rate, femoral pulses, apex beat, ventricular heave,
- assessment of lungs, added sounds and rate (RR over 55 is suspicious), cyanosis, respiratory distress,
- assessment of abdomen, shape, organomegaly, herniae
- assessment of genitalia, normality, testicular descent
- examination of the hips by Barlow and Ortolani tests and by looking for symmetrical skin crease in the thighs. Check for leg length discrepancy.
- assessment of the spine
Review of development:
- review feeding and weight gain
- check growth chart
- review vision and hearing
- socially most babies smiling at 6 weeks and have a range of sounds.
Parent concerns?
Health promotion:
- vaccinations
- breast-feeding and weaning advice
- reduce risk of cot death, no smoking, put baby to sleep on its back, avoid falling asleep with the baby in same bed, avoid overheating, avoid bulky or lose items of bedding like pillows and duvets, encourage breast-feeding
Describe Pertussis (Whooping cough), it’s signs, and management
Bordetella pertussis, peak age in infants with second peak in those over 14. Whoops are caused by inspiration against a closed glottis.
Signs: apnoea, bouts of coughing ending with vomiting +/- cyanosis worse at night or after feeds.
Management:
- erythromycin is often used in those likely to expose infants to the disease.
- admit if less than 6 months due to risk of apnoea.
- can be self-limiting and mild.
- vaccine available not always effective.
Describe Hand Foot and Mouth disease, its symptoms and management.
Very common viral infection of children typically caused by Coxsackievirus A16
Symptoms: the child is mildly unwell, develops vesicles on palms, soles and mouth. They may cause discomfort until they heal.
Treatment:
- self-limiting in 1-2wks
- symptomatic control for temperatures. Ensure good oral intake.
Describe Kawasaki Disease and its symptoms
Medium vessel vasculitis of children similar to PAN. Median age is 10 months. Can lead to coronary artery aneurysm and infarction.
Symptoms: Child may present with bilateral non-purulent conjuncitivits, pharyngeal injection, strawberry tongue, pyrexia, diarrohea, neck lymphadenopathy, rash, palmar erythema, fingertip desquamation.
What is meconium?
The first stool of a mammalian infant, unlike faeces it is composed of materials ingested during the time spent in the uterus such as intestinal epithelial cells, mucus, main iota fluid. It is a viscous and stick like tar and is usually a dark olive green and almost oderless.
Describe Meconium Aspiration Syndrome (MAS) and its management.
Occurs in the term/near term infant when meconium, the faecal material that accumulates in the foetal colon during gestation, is passed in utero, leading to meconium stained amniotic fluid (MSAF). MSAF occurs in around 8-25% of births, usually due to foetal distress or advance foetal age. MAS occurs only in 5% of these infants; it is defined as respiratory distress in the infant born through MSAF which cannot otherwise be explained. Aspiration of meconium mostly occur pre-birth. It may lead to airway obstruction, surfactant dysfunction, pulmonary vasoconstriction, infection, and chemical pneumonia is.
Management:
- Intrapartum suctioning of the Oro/nasopharynx is not recommended.
- Endotracheal suctioning is only needed for those infants who aren’t vigorous at birth.
- Surfactant, ventilation, inhaled nitric oxide and antibiotics are all used.
What are the reference intervals for paediatric observations?
Less than 1 year:
- RR 30-40/min
- PR 110-160/min
- Systolic BP 70-90mmHg
2-5yrs:
- RR 20-30/min
- PR 95-140/min
- Systolic BP 80-100mmHg
5-12yrs:
- RR 15-20/min
- PR 80-120/min
- Systolic BP 90-110mmHg
Older than 12yrs:
- RR 2-16/min
- PR 60-100/min
- Systolic BP 100-120mmHg
Describe Retinopathy of Prematurity, its screening, and management.
A disorder of the developing retina. Major risk factors are low birth weight and prematurity. Exposure to supplemental oxygen is a cause, in particular large fluctuations in PaO2, so careful titration of O2 levels has led to a decrease in the incidence of RoP. Abnormal fibrovascular proliferation or retinal vessels am lead to retinal detachment and visual loss.
Screening:
- Screening is recommended if less than 1500g or 32 weeks gestation.
- If less than 27 weeks, screen at 30-31 weeks post-menstrual age.
- If born at 27-32 weeks then screen at 4-5weeks post natal age.
- Screening ought to be repeated 1-2 weekly depending on severity of disease. It must be done by an experience ophthalmologist.
Management:
-Diode laser therapy causes less myopia than cryotherapy.
Describe IntraVentricular Haemorrhage (IVH), it’s signs, tests, complications, and management.
Occurs in 25% if birthweight less than 1500g. Preterm infants are at risk of IVH due to unsupported blood vessels in the subependymal germinal matrix and the instability of blood pressure associated with birth trauma and respiratory distress. Delayed cord clamping in press may decrease risk.
Signs: Suspect in neonates who detioriate rapidly, especially in week 1. There may be seizures, bulging fontanelle, and cerebral irritability but many will have no clinical symptoms.
Tests: ultrasound is preferred
Complications: decreased IQ, cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus.
Management: Meticulous nursing, head elevation, circulatory support, seizure control (1st line phenobarbital loading dose 20mg/kg IV as slow injection).
What is Transient Tachypnoea of the Newborn (TTN)?
Respiratory distress due to excess lung fluid, usually resolves after 24h. Treatment is supportive and may include supplemental oxygen and antibiotics.
Describe Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS), it’s signs, prevention, and treatment.
RDS is due to a deficiency of alveolar surfactant, which is mainly confined to premature babies. Insufficient surfactant leads to alveolar collapse; re-inflation, with each breath exhausts the baby, and respiratory failure follows. Hypoxia leads to decreased cardiac output, hypotension, acidosis and renal failure. It is the major cause of death from prematurity.
Signs: Respiratory distress shortly after birth (1st 4h) I.e. Tachypnoea more than 60/min, grunting, nasal flaring, intercostal, subcostal and/or sternal recession, and cyanosis. CXR shows diffuse granular patterns (ground glass appearance).
Prevention: Betamethasone or dexamethasone should be offered to all women at risk of preterm delivery from 23-35 weeks, mothers at high risk should be transferred to perinatal centres with experience in managing RDS.
Treatment:
- delay clamping of cord by 3 min to promote placento-foetal transfusion.
- Give oxygen via an oxygen/air blender using the lowest concentration possible.
- If spontaneous breathing stabilise with CPAP (5-6cmH2O)
- Babies at high risk should get surfactant.
- aim for sats between 85-93% to prevent retinopathy of prematurity
- if blood gases worsen, incubate and support ventilation.
Describe PeriVentricular Leukomalacia (PVL), it’s causes, signs, and management.
A form of white matter injury, characterised by the necrosis of white matter near the lateral ventricles. Affected individuals generally exhibit motor control problems and other developmental delays and often develop cerebral palsy or epilepsy later in life.
Causes: It is thought to be due to two major factors, decreased blood or oxygen flow to the PeriVentricular region, and damage to the glial cells. It is thought that initial hypocrite events cause damage to blood-brain barrier which leads to further hypoxic difficulties.
Presentation: Delayed motor development, vision deficits, apnoeas, low heart rates, and seizures. Found on routine US of head.
Management:
- reduce hypoxic and Brady events
- no treatment available
What is the definition of preterm?
A neonate whose calculated gestational age from the last menstrual period is less than 37 weeks
What is the definition of the neonatal period and thus a neonate?
The neonatal period is the 1st 28days of life in a term baby, in a preterm baby it is up to 44 completed weeks of the infants conceptional age I.e. Gestational age + chronological age (e.g. 37+7).
Describe growth charts and how preterm infants are corrected for.
Preterm infants may be plotted on the preterm growth chart or the low birth weight chart if less than 32 weeks gestation. There may be some weight loss in the early days after birth.
Gestational correction: Plot actual age then draw a line back the number of weeks the infant was preterm and mark the spot with an arrow. This is the gestationally corrected centile.
Describe the Child Immunization schedule.
2 months: 5in1 DTaP/IPV/Hib vaccine to protect against five separate diseases, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough(pertussis), polio, and haemophilus infleunza type b. PCV vaccine for pneumococcal disease. Rotavirus vaccine. Men B vaccine.
3 months: 5in1 DTaP/IPV/Hib second dose, Men C vaccine, Rotaviris second dose.
4 months: 5in1 DTaP/IPV/Hib third dose. PCV second dose, Men B second dose.
12-13months: Hib/Men C booster, MMR vaccine, PCV third dose, Men B third dose.
2,3 and 4 years pls school years one and two: Annual children flu vaccine.
From 3years and 4 months up to starting school: MMR second dose, DTaP/IPV pre school booster.
12-13 Years girls only: HPV vaccine
At what age does one have capacity to consent to sexual activity?
13 years, sexual activity under this age is considered rape regardless of consent. Legally consent is not possible until 16.
Describe Hypoxic-Ischaemic Encephalopathy, it’s symptoms, management
Brain injury due to birth asphyxia/RDS.
Symptoms: Lethargic, hypotonia, sluggish or absent grasping, Moro and sucking reflexes. Period of apnoea. Seizures. Pupils may be dilated, fixed or poorly reactive to light.
Management:
- ensure adequate ventilation
- avoid large fluctuations in blood pressure and oxygen levels.
- avoid hypo/hyperglycaemia
- avoid hyperthermia.
- treat seizures
- hypothermia therapy, NNT = 7
Describe Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA), its symptoms, and management.
An acyanotic cause of congenital heart disease. Due to failure of the Ductus Arteriosus to close after birth. Normally PDA closes in response to a rise in PaO2.
Symptoms: Failure to thrive, Pneumoniae, CCF, SBE, collapsing pulse, thrill, loud S2, systolic pulmonary area murmur, or continuous machinery hum that may radiate to back. ECG may show LVH.
Management:
- dexamethasone in preterm labour helps close PDAs.
- watch and wait and consider surgical closure if not spontaneous closure.