Category: Resources

Child Protection Evidence

A series of systematic reviews by the RCPCH to help clinicians identify the signs of physical abuse and neglect.

The reviews include the latest evidence on a series of areas, including:

  • Fractures
  • Neurological injuries
  • Bruises
  • Burns
  • Bites
  • Spinal injuries
  • Ear, nose and throat injuries
  • Oral injuries
  • Retinal findings
  • Visceral injuries
  • They also look at evidence on neglect and around particular age groups:
  • Early years neglect
  • School age neglect/emotional abuse
  • Teenage abuse
  • Dental neglect
  • Parent-child interaction

http://www.rcpch.ac.uk/news/new-rcpch-child-protection-resource-now-available 

 

You CAN use dilute povidine-iodine for mucky ears

Occasionally we manage children with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). The link below, to the Clinical Care Guidelines for the Management of Otitis Media in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Populations, is a comprehensive review of what to do for the variety of ear infections we see clinically.

You can safely use dilute (1:20) povidine-iodine (Betadine(R)) to perform ear toilet, for ears where there is perforation, in addition to treatment with a topical antibiotic (e.g. ciprofloxacin 2-5 drops 2-4 times a day after cleaning). Those of us with access to video-otoscopy should also photo-document the size of the perforation if possible.

Click to access Recommendation-for-clinical-guidelines-Otitis-Media.pdf

“Death is not a medical failure and hope is not a plan”

Death is the last step in the process of disease or ageing. Can we be both a source of truth and hope for our patients when death is approaching? Families want us to take the initiative for advanced care planning and parents “prioritise regular and sensitive conversations over written advanced directives” (Lotz et al, 2016, p.6). This is good bioethical practice aimed at alleviating suffering and preventing a prolonged death.

We might hesitate to explicitly discuss future health care decisions because the future is uncertain or we wish to maintain hope. Let’s face it, hypothetical discussions are difficult for physicians and families. But we must offer to plan for the best ending to each person’s story.

Balaban’s (2000) 4-step approach to advanced care planning is recommended and summarised in this resource.

Find the right words in the examples of other physicians and aspire to fearless healing.

 

 

Here are some resources to have a look at:

Credits to Dr Sherina Mubiru for this post!

Hypertension Guidelines – what to use – ED guide or comprehensive?

There are so many repositories of wisdom on the web, it can be difficult to sift through and find exactly what you need, quickly.

For comparison, compare the guidelines below. The first is from RCH and is great if you’re in the Emergency Department and want a quick read; the second is from the Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow and is comprehensive enough for our fellow renal physicians to refer to for refined management:

http://www.rch.org.au/clinicalguide/guideline_index/hypertension/

Click to access yor-ren-022-hypertension-oct-2016.pdf

Inborn Errors of Metabolism Resource

For years, the little yellow book “Vademecum Metabolicum” has been the go to quick reference for people invovled in the care of children with inborn errors of metabolism. It is concise and well organised into sections according to clinical presentation and disease categories.

This book is no longer in publication, although you may be able to find old copies on amazon or bookdepository.

However, it is now available as an application, and online.

For online, go to http://evm.health2media.com/#/start

 

For android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vademetab.eVademecumMetabolicum&hl=en

For iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/evm-vademecum-metabolicum/id1123172322?mt=8

 

Learning Resources – new & curated

FSHPaeds are working to curate a bunch of learning resources with our registrars in mind, but which perhaps many of us can enjoy.

Whilst the resource is still in list form, we’ll be working on this site to improve accessibility and navigation in the coming weeks.

The list is here