BROWN EMERGENCY MEDICINE BLOG

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Asynchrony PEM: Topics in Pediatric Neurology

This week in our Neurology etc. block, we're going to focus on a few important pediatric neurology topics: febrile seizures, headache, head injury, and stroke (gah!). The first three, you'll see all the time. The last -- hopefully you'll never see, but if you do, you've got to recognize it.

By the end, you should know (among other things):

  • Do all kids with complex febrile seizure need an LP? 
  • Should pediatric stroke patients receive tPA? (double gaah!!) 
  • Which headaches are concerning, and which just need a dose of acetaminophen and a kiss from Boo-Boo Bunny? 
  • Knocked on the noggin': does 'LOC' equal 'head CT' (and not just because it rhymes)?

Theme song: OneRepublic's "Kids" -- admittedly not neuro-specific, but we got the pediatric part down!
Yeah, perfect disasters
Yeah, we were swinging, swinging from the rafters...

(Yup, we're discussing pediatric head trauma...)

Time to get those synapses firing -- let's go!

FEBRILE SEIZURES

a) From EM Cases: Emergency Management of Febrile Seizures  Read the show notes; listen to the podcast if you have time.

b) From Annals of EM, article in press: Do all children who present with a complex febrile seizure need an LP? (pdf in Canvas for Brown readers.) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2016.11.024

 

PEDIATRIC HEADACHE

From PEM Playbook: Pediatric Headache: Some Relief for All Detailed show notes or 30 minute podcast -- your pick. Clear and thoughtful advice!

 

HEAD INJURY

Courtesy of Dr. Turcotte-Benedict : a few resources on Pediatric Head Injury/TBI.

a) Here is a podcast on Pediatric Head Injury from EM Cases. This 1 hour podcast reviews pediatric minor and major head injury, the Kupperman PECARN head injury guideline, and the CATCH study. Detailed show notes if you're short on time.

b) More EM Cases: summarizes some of the literature on pediatric minor head trauma.

c) Don't Forget the Bubbles has a quick and to the point review of Traumatic Brain Injury

 

PEDIATRIC STROKE

a) From EMDocs (2015): Pediatric Stroke

b) Interesting quick video from Mayo Clinic's EM Blog (Hat tip to our Mayo EM colleagues). Pecha Kucha format, fast and to-the-point. 

c) Children Don't Have Strokes? Just Ask Jared.  A family's account of the presentation and aftermath of a stroke in a healthy seven-year-old. NY Times, 2010.

 

THE SUPER BRAINY optional EXTRA: 

ACEP free CME: Pediatric Neurologic Emergencies -- a 45-minute audio lecture.

 

That's it for this week -- Brown residents, remember to complete the module in Canvas for credit!  See you in two!