Mastering Pediatrics: Fever

Advancing Learners Pediatric Clinical Reasoning and Knowledge

Key Points


    Fever not only makes children and teenagers feel bad. Parents really dread fevers because they worry about what is causing the fever, and kids being sick disrupts the entire household.

    A true medical fever is >100.5F or 38C. Parents will often think that any temperature more than 98.6F or 37.5C is a fever, but this is a temperature elevation.

    Most fevers are usually caused by an acute, self-limited illness, that can be treated at home such as a viral illness. Sometimes it is a bacterial illness such as an ear infection or strep throat that needs antibiotic treatment. Fever has a very large differential diagnosis and can always be the sign of a significant disease process.

    Assuming that there is a self-limited illness parents can be educated saying something like the following:
    Fever is a good thing. It is telling us that the body knows there is something wrong and is trying to take care of the problem.
    But fever can make the patient feel bad. Patients do not want to drink, they are in pain, or they just have that non-specific, “I don’t feel good” or “oogly feeling”.
    If fever is causing real discomfort then it can be treated with antipyretics like acetaminophen or ibuprofen. It will make the child feel better.
    But just because the patient has a fever they do not have to be treated with antipyretics. If they are acting well, they can just be watched. Antipyretics are there for the patient’s comfort.

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Author
Donna M. D’Alessandro, MD
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Iowa

Mastering Pediatrics: Diarrhea

Advancing Learners Pediatric Clinical Reasoning and Knowledge

Key Points


    Diarrhea is usually defined as loose, watery stools that are more than 3 times a day, or much more than the usual frequency for the person. Usually this equates to a Bristol Stool Scale of 6 or 7.

    The differential diagnosis is large, but often is infectious with one of the most common causes being viral enteritis.Usually diarrhea is short-lived with resolution in a few days.

    An important point to remember that viral enteritis is the most common cause of bloody diarrhea overall. Blood in the stool is more likely to occur in any given case with bacterial diarrhea like Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia, Campylobacter, Clostridium, and E. coli or parasitic infections like Entamoeba. However these infections do not happen as often as viral enteritis. Although bloody diarrhea is less likely to occur in any given case of viral enteritis, there are so many more viral infections than bacterial or parasitic infections, that the viral enteritis is the most common cause of bloody diarrhea.

    Gastroenteritis is not the same as enteritis and gastritis. Enteritis is the diarrhea; gastritis is the emesis. If the patient has both then it becomes gastroenteritis. This is important because the differential diagnosis is different for all 3 problems. There is much overlap though.

    Especially in children, patients can become dehydrated quickly with ongoing fluid losses. Evaluation of hydration status needs particular attention. Objectively weight changes are the best data sources. Physical examination findings such as slow capillary refill, poor skin turgor, and tacky mucous membranes also help with hydration evaluation. Urination is also a helpful measure by noting its frequency and sometimes its volume. It can be difficult to tell if a child has urinated because of mixed urine/stool, especially in diapered children. One can try to place cotton balls to create a “diaper dam” between the urethra and anus to try to identify urination frequency. In males, the penis can also be pointed toward the top of the diaper and that area checked for urine as it is less likely to be contaminated with stool.

    It is notoriously hard to evaluate stool volume. Most people are not diapered and even if they are weighing the diapers is very hard to do. Estimations of stool frequency through how many toiletings or diaper changes can assist. If diapered, volume can be estimated if parents describe them as “a blow out” or leaking outside the diaper.

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Author
Donna M. D’Alessandro, MD
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Iowa

Mastering Pediatrics: Cough

Advancing Learners Pediatric Clinical Reasoning and Knowledge

Key Points


    Cough is a frequent problem that parents come to seek help for. The differential diagnosis of cough is large, but cough often starts because of an infectious disease like upper respiratory infections (URIs) with cold-like symptoms, bronchiolitis, pneumonia, seasonal allergies, bronchospasm or asthma. Congenital anatomic problems in infants (e.g. tracheoesophageal fistula, etc.) and aspiration in children with special needs are just some of the more common causes.

    Parents worry about the cough because it can cause sleeping problems in children and therefore the parents also get awoken themselves. Parents also complain that the “child is always coughing” or the “cough never goes away.” Multiple, serial, URIs can make it seem like the child is always sick. For children who are in child care or are early school age, it is not uncommon for them to catch one URI and then by the time the coughing is improving, two-several weeks later, the child catches another URI and the process begins again. Normal healthy children have 4-8 coughs or colds/year that last a week or longer, so they likely seem sick all the time to parents.

    Coughing also can last a long time. The body has many ways to keep itself healthy and to rid itself of disease. Lungs are like a damp sponge. They have some fluid which helps to clean out the airways. The fluid moves by ciliary action and chest wall movement. When there is an infectious process or the lungs are irritated, they make more fluid. There is more fluid to move which can build up in areas. Coughing helps to keep the fluid moving and keep the airways clear. Coughing is highly protective for the patient. If the airways are not protected then airflow can be diminished or cut off. The body knows this is not good and tries to clear the airway. This protective mechanism of coughing can continue for a long time after the infection or irritation of the lungs actually stops. There can also be lung inflammation occurring that is not perceptible to the patient – they feel fine and their examination is normal – but there still is inflammation going on. Therefore, coughing can still be occurring.

    Treatment for cough is treating the underlying cause along with symptomatic treatment. Humidified air, frequent moistening of the mouth/nose by sucking on lozenges or saline, nasal suction and adequate overall hydration can help. Honey can be used in patients > 1 year old to help soothe the mouth and throat. Children under age 1 are at risk of botulism so honey is not recommended for them. Over-the-counter cough medications are not recommended for children < 4 years old. Antipyretics for discomfort can also be used especially if there are other symptoms that are bothering the child.

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Author
Donna M. D’Alessandro, MD
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Iowa

Mastering Pediatrics: Asthma

Advancing Learners Pediatric Clinical Reasoning and Knowledge

Key Points


    Wheezing does not mean someone has asthma.
    Wheezing generally means that someone has bronchospasm which can occur once or twice at any age.

    Asthma is a chronic condition where there is bronchospasm (i.e. spasms of the muscles that control the flow of air in the lung airways) and inflammation (of the lining of the airways). As it is a chronic condition, it has to occur more than once over time, with 3 times or more sometimes used as a functional definition.

    Lung airways are like a balloon.
    Bronchospasm and inflammation decrease the size of the airways just like stretching the top part of a balloon. When the balloon’s top is stretched, the balloon makes a wheezing sound. If stretched too tight, there actually is no sound as all the airflow is blocked. When medications are used, it is like the top of the balloon not being stretched. All the air escapes and the wheezing sound also stops because there is free flow of air.

    Asthma medications work differently. Bronchodilators are used to stop the muscle spasms. Steroids are used to decrease inflammation and swelling of the airway lining. Both of these open up the airway and allow more air to flow. Patients should feel better because air is flowing and the wheezing should decrease. N.B. if wheezing is decreasing it could be because the airflow is improving or actually getting worse, so overall patient clinical status is very important to assess.

    Today bronchodilator-steroids combination medications are often used. If used separately, bronchodilators are used first to help open up the airways quickly, and allow the steroid to better penetrate the airways.

    Metered-dose inhalers can be difficult to use properly, especially having enough distance between the inhaler and the back of the mouth. Therefore spacers are recommended to be used by many adults and almost all children. Plastic spacers have an electrostatic charge which may cause the medication to stick to the inside of the spacer and not pass to the patient. “Priming” the spacer with ~6 puffs of bronchodilator usually suffices to block this charge and allows the medication to pass to the patient. Priming should be done again after about 1-2 weeks of daily use, if the spacer has not been used after 1-2 weeks, and after washing.

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Author
Donna M. D’Alessandro, MD
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Iowa