Tag Archives: asthma

November 2015 newsletter

December 1, 2015For Emergency Departments, For General Practitioners, PDF digests: Emergency Departments, PDF digests: for General Practitionersasthma, child development, musculoskeletal, neurology, orthopaedics, parenting, psychologyadmin

November 2015: diagnosing asthma this month, a synopsis of vitamin D deficiency as we go into the winter, a helpful cartoon around mental well-being and hypermobility demystified. All comments gratefully received!

October 2014 published

October 25, 2014For Emergency Departments, For General Practitioners, PDF digests: Emergency Departments, PDF digests: for General Practitionersallergy, asthma, child development, child protection, dermatology, infectious disease, parenting, ringworm, safeguarding, sleep, viral infectionsadmin

October 2014 holds quite a few topics: scalp ringworm, sleep and behaviour, support for victims of sexual abuse, immunotherapy for peanut allergy, link to parental asthma booklet and what to do with babies with chicken pox. Do leave comments below…

August 2014

September 1, 2014For Emergency Departments, For General Practitioners, PDF digests: Emergency Departments, PDF digests: for General Practitionersasthma, gastrointestinal issues, headache, mental health issues, neurologyadmin

August is full of cyclical vomiting, insect bites, asthma plans and NICE “do not do” recommendations. Do leave comments….

January 2012 PDF ready

January 29, 2012For Emergency Departments, For General Practitionersallergy, asthma, child development, epilepsy, febrile convulsions, fever, orthopaedicsadmin

Do you know your valgus from your varus? Or your myclonic epilepsy from your sleep myoclonus? A link this month to new asthma patient information leaflets and some reminders of NICE’s “Do not do recommendations” in feverish children. Also the BSACI egg allergy guideline. Do leave comments on any of these topics below.

June 2011 for ED clinicians

June 28, 2011Child Protection, For Emergency Departmentsasthma, child protection, gastrointestinal issues, immunisationadmin

A move away from NICE guidelines this month to cover the 2011 BTS/SIGN asthma guidelines and a link to a succinct summary of the current UK immunisation schedule written by one of our registrars. Also a bit from the literature on management of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and a few pointers about Forced Marriage which is an important safeguarding issue in our region. Do leave comments.

June’s Paediatric Pearls for GPs

June 28, 2011Child Protection, For General Practitionersasthma, child protection, gastrointestinal issuesadmin

June already! A move away from NICE guidelines this month to cover the 2011 BTS/SIGN asthma guidelines. Also a bit from the literature on management of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and a few pointers about Forced Marriage which is an important safeguarding issue in our region. Do leave comments.

Childhood Peak Expiratory Flow Rates (PEFR)

June 21, 2011For Emergency Departments, For General Practitionersasthma, respiratory distress, viral infections, wheezeadmin

Children from about 5 years old may be able to use a Peak Flow Meter to record their PEFR. As one of the parameters by which we diagnose a severe or life-threatening asthma exacerbation is the percentage drop in PEFR, it would help to know what a child’s normal PEFR is! Click here for a guide of what you might expect for height. Children don’t always conform to these norms so it is important to know what the child’s own normal PEFR is; a 20% drop in their norm suggests poor control of asthma, a 40% drop suggests a significant exacerbation.

January ED version of Paediatric Pearls newsletter

January 26, 2011For Emergency Departments, PDF digests: Emergency Departmentsasthma, head injury, paediatric surgeryadmin

This month’s emergency department version of Paediatric Pearls has information on the NICE guideline on head injury, what to do if you find a child has an undescended testis and some pointers to sites on asthma inhalers. Download the January 2011 ED version here.

January GP edition here!

January 26, 2011For General Practitioners, PDF digests: for General Practitioners6 week check, asthma, blood tests, head injury, paediatric surgeryadmin

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.

Inhalers for asthma

January 19, 2011For Emergency Departments, For General Practitionersasthma, respiratory distress, wheezeadmin

Most families in the Emergency Department will talk about their child’s “blue” and “brown” inhaler. Can we, or they, tell which is the reliever and which the preventer?

Click here for a printable table of some common inhalers listed by colour. I have also found a very useful site put together by a pharmacist and a medical student with photos of lots of the inhalers so you can get your patient to identify which one they are on. Take a look at http://www.rch.org.au/clinicalguide/asthmadevices/

*Device*	*Comments*
Standard metered dose inhaler (MDI)	Children < 12 years old unlikely to be able to use it properly without a spacer Small, conveniently pocket-sized Requires shaking and priming Not affected by humidity
MDI and spacer	Bulky Better delivery of drug at all ages NICE suggests < 5 years, all inhalers should be given with a spacer device and 5-15 years, at least the corticosteroids should be given with a spacer
Dry powder device	Children < 6 years old generally can not use it as it requires a fast, deep breath to activate it Medicine can be blown away if child accidentally breathes out Clearer when the medicine is running out than the MDI Single dose models require loading of capsules for each use Powder sticks together if high humidity

http://www.asthma.org.uk/health_professionals/materials_to_help_you_your_patients/index.html has a link to a comprehensive information leaflet for young people over the age of 12 who need to take control of their asthma management and understand their condition.

http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/11400/32073/32073.pdf is the 2000 guideline on asthma management in the < 5 year olds

http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/index.jsp?action=byID&r=true&o=11450 is the 2002 guideline for 5-15 year olds