23.15 Pericardiocentesis Ronald A. Dieckmann Background The pumping heart is extremely sensitive to rapid accumulation of pericardial fluid. Small amounts of fluid acutely increase intrapericardial pressure and may significantly impede…
23.9 Removing and replacing a tracheostomy tube Ronald A. Dieckmann Background Children with tracheostomy tubes are increasingly common in out-of-hospital and emergency department settings. Laryngeal trauma, cervical cord injury, subglottic…
23.18 Lumbar puncture Ronald A. Dieckmann Background Lumbar puncture (LP) is a time-honoured method for obtaining cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for diagnostic evaluation of suspected central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities. LP…
23.13 Umbilical Vessel Cannulation Judith Klein Background During fetal life, two umbilical arteries transport nutrients and oxygen from the placenta and one umbilical vein helps dispose of fetal waste. During…
23.16 Transurethral catheterisation and suprapubic bladder aspiration Conor Deasy, Judith Klein Background Obtaining an uncontaminated specimen of urine is essential to diagnose urinary tract infection (UTI). UTIs are a common…
23.8 Tube thoracostomy Ronald A. Dieckmann Background Traumatic pneumothorax and haemothorax are the most frequent paediatric indications for tube thoracostomy. Pneumothorax is a serious sequela of major chest trauma in…
27.1 Emergency medical transport and retrieval Andrew Berry Essentials 1 Children are different from adults and therefore can have different needs in terms of medical retrieval. Early consultation with clinicians…
23.5 Confirmation of intubation Michelle Lin Background Confirming correct placement of the endotracheal tube is crucial because of the high morbidity and mortality of an inadvertent and unrecognised oesophageal intubation….
23.14 Electrical countershock Ronald A. Dieckmann, Conor Deasy Background When a child’s heart deteriorates into ventricular fibrillation (VF) or pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT), there is usually a severe systemic insult,…
16.1 Acute kidney injury Barry Wilkins Essentials 1 Acute kidney injury (AKI, or acute renal failure) is acute reduction in glomerular filtration rate. 2 A high or rising plasma creatinine…
