Take a look at September 2012’s edition of Paediatric Pearls! Safeguarding issues surrounding head and spinal injuries, simple motor tics, chronic fatigue syndrome, the new CATS website and some pointers to gems you might have missed from the last 3 years. Do leave comments.
Category Archives: PDF digests: for General Practitioners
August 2012 PDF digest
August’s PDF only has 4 text boxes but with lots of information crammed into them and extra on the blog. A great looking PDF on poisoning in children from one of our registrars, an article on stammering from another working with a speech and language therapist and an update on BTS pneumonia guidelines just in time for the winter. Also a feature on Cardiff’s core info safeguarding work on the evidence behind different types of fractures. Do leave comments…
May 2012 ready a week early!
Click here for May’s PDF digest of Paediatric Pearls. Perinatal infant-maternal mental health this month from both SIGN and our local services, diarrhoea and vomiting fluid calculation, pertussis, bruise assessment in NAI and food allergy. Also a couple of links to useful parenting support sites. Do leave comments!
Joint March and April edition of PP published!
With apologies for missing March – time management issues….
Functional abdominal pain this month with a link to a handy patient information leaflet, pubertal and growth issues, neonatal spots and some not-for-the-faint-hearted youtube videos on intraosseous line insertion for the ED practitioners amongst you. Do leave comments!
November’s Paediatric Pearls available now!
This is the first time in ages I’ve managed to get the finalised version on line in time for the end of the month! NICE on autism this month, a bit on the use of corticosteroids in croup with help from the Cochrane Library, update on secondary prevention of meningococcal disease and a pointer to our local educational psychologist service which is hoping to make stronger links with the borough’s GPs (see also below). Our feeding series continues with an article on colic from one of the junior paediatricians with lots of useful links and updates.
GP’s September 2011 issue now available
It’s the last day of September today so I’ve just got in by the skin of my teeth… In this month’s edition I have done a bit on BCG vaccination from the recently updated NICE guideline on TB, reminded you of where to get the new growth charts from and how to plot ex-prem babies on them and featured a somewhat depressing paper from Archives of Disease in Childhood this month on the effects of maternal obesity on the baby. Do leave comments and questions below.
Combined GP and ED versions for August 2011
Well the BMJ produces 2 journals in one in August so why can’t I? All the topics featured this month are relevant for both GPs and ED doctors – for once – so you have a joint newsletter. I have covered headache this month, Vitamin D (by popular request) and we have started the “Feeding” series requested by my ED senior colleagues. It seems appropriate to have covered breastfeeding first. Do leave comments below.
GP’s July 2011
This month I have reproduced some immunisation myths and truths from Dr Ravindran’s excellent summary published in full somewhere on this blog (use the search function if you can’t find it below). NICE’s UTI guideline has just been reviewed; did you know there was a section called “Do not do recommendations”? Worth a look as we are all guilty of doing some of what we are not supposed to. Our new list of local breastfeeding drop-in groups is out, reduced unfortunately since the cutting back of Childrens centres’ funding. The GMC have clarified parental responsibility nicely and, as a step-parent myself, I was quite pleased to see the sensible point on the end too. Lastly, it is a bit depressing to be told that it takes 3 times longer in the UK for a child with a brain tumour to be diagnosed than in the US. Do leave comments below.
January GP edition here!
January reminds us all of the NICE guideline on head injury and specifically when a child is supposed to be referred for a CT. We continue our 6-8 week baby check series with information on undescended testes. There are also links to agreed blood test reference ranges and resources to help with the identification of asthma inhalers. Download January 2011 GP PDF here.
School refusal
School refusal is often a symptom of an underlying anxiety disorder. The child may get anxious on separating from their primary caregiver and this manifests itself in different ways depending on the age of the child as much as anything. There are 2 peak age groups who develop school refusal, 5-7 year olds and 11-14 year olds. 25% of school children refuse to attend school at some point in their school career but it becomes a routine problem in about 2% and the longer it goes on, the harder it is to reverse. It is not the same as truancy. It is not a mental illness in itself but many children who feel unable to attend school over a long period do have an underlying mental health issue. Unfortunately funding for CAMHS is being eroded and it is difficult to find good, and timely, help for school refusers. The websites I have listed in December 2010 Paediatric Pearls for GPs may help give parents pointers for why it is happening and how to set about managing it.