News

Advice for pediatricians who use the Web.

Your secretary receives a frantic call from the mother of one of your patients: "My son is having a seizure and we're on the way to the emergency department!"

Pediatricians increasingly are being asked about PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococci) by parents who read about this entity on the Internet and in the lay press. An association with group A streptococcal infection remains to be confirmed.

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In the last few years, a growing number of physicians have started using procedural sedation and analgesia to help children tolerate unpleasant therapeutic and diagnostic procedures. This review will familiarize you with the sedatives used, when and how they're administered, and what type of monitoring patients require.

Despite some formidable obstacles, lung transplantation has become an accepted treatment for children with end-stage lung disease caused by conditions such as cystic fibrosis. Do you have a patient who could benefit?

Parents look to pediatricians for advice on bathing their newborn and avoiding diaper rash. Discolorations and lesions (usually benign) are another concern. This review also updates the best way to care for the umbilical cord and addresses special skin-care considerations in premature infants.

Comments on specific factors that protect children from risky adolescent behavior.

A call has come from an emergency medicine physician who wishes to transfer a 12-year-old boy with an acute onset of ataxia.

Providing emergency care to children is a special challenge with risks for both patient and pediatrician. Attention to some basic precautions promotes good medical care for the child and heads off legal problems for the physician at the same time.

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Providing emergency care to children is a special challenge with risks for both patient and pediatrician. Attention to some basic precautions promotes good medical care for the child and heads off legal problems for the physician at the same time.

General pediatricians can perform the initial evaluation of newborns with bleeding disorders and, often, reach a diagnosis and make treatment decisions. Sometimes, however, it's best to call in a specialist.

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Advice about teens' acceptance of themselves and the adults, particularly pediatricians, who should be helping them do just that.

Many families feel that pediatricians just don't listen when they try to voice concerns about vaccines. Our recommendation: Identify each family's specific issues, target your response accordingly, and use a nonconfrontational approach. Time-consuming lectures on big subjects like immunology generally aren't needed.

A 3-year-old boy has had a rash on his face for at least six months, and no family history of skin disease.

Cover for July 2000

A 6-year-old with a significant past medical history of asthma is rushed to the emergency department at midnight after experiencing a cyanotic spell.

Pulled elbow is easily reduced. First, however, you must be sure that the injury is not something more serious, like a fracture.

Diabetic ketoacidosis is one of the most common, and dangerous, complications of both insulin- and noninsulin-dependent diabetes. The patient's life depends on a complex therapeutic juggling act to restore metabolic, acid-base, fluid, and electrolyte balances.

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The eosinophil can either enhance or suppress immune function, and it's associated with a wide variety of diseases. Little wonder a finding of eosinophilia often leaves pediatricians scratching their heads.