Diarrhea is the passage of unusually loose or watery stools, typically at least three times in a 24-hour period, and should be considered in a child who is passing stools more frequently than usual with a consistency looser than what…
Acute abdominal pain is usually a self-limiting, benign condition that is commonly caused by gastroenteritis, constipation, or a viral illness. The challenge is to identify children who require immediate evaluation for potentially life-threatening conditions. Chronic abdominal pain is also a…
Calories from food provide energy for the body’s maintenance functions of repair, regulation, metabolism, replacement of losses, and daily activity. Children have additional caloric requirements because they are growing. Children under the age of 3 years whose caloric needs are…
The first step in the evaluation of a child for hypertension is to define whether the child is in fact hypertensive. For children under 13 years of age, the normative data for blood pressure are interpreted based on gender, age,…
What Is Shock: Pathophysiology Shock is a condition in which inadequate tissue perfusion results in an insufficient delivery of oxygen to meet the body’s metabolic needs. Tissue perfusion is dependent on cardiac output. Cardiac output (CO) is determined by the…
A heart murmur is a sign, the audible turbulence of blood flow through the heart or the major vessels; symptoms associated with heart murmurs vary by the underlying cause, as well as the nature and severity of any cardiac lesion…
Chest pain in children is a common complaint; however, it is rarely due to underlying cardiac illness. This underscores the importance of avoiding a false sense of safety in low-risk causes and maintaining vigilance for potential life-threatening etiologies. Chest pain…
Dizziness is a common but very nonspecific chief complaint about which some elaboration by the patient is generally required for the physician to understand exactly what the patient is experiencing. The description of the sensation is critical in distinguishing whether…
A brief resolved unexplained event (BRUE) is a term used to describe events occurring in infants younger than 1 year of age that are characterized by the observer as “brief” (lasting <1 minute but typically <20–30 seconds) and “resolved” (meaning…
Earache (otalgia) is pain that arises from a pathologic process in the external, middle, or inner ear or that is referred to the ear from another structure. Acute otitis media (AOM) is the most common cause of otalgia in children…