Case brief
You are working as a TI in the Emergency Department. The triage nurse tells you a 2 1/2 year old boy, Shaun, has just come in with a 2 day history of coughing. The registrar is busy and asks you to take a history from his parents.
Q What possibilities should you be considering?
Click here to view the answer to the question above (Click again to hide)
- URTI
- Pneumonia
- Asthma
- Bronchiolitis
- Croup
- Whooping cough
- Inhaled foreign body
So your history will be directed to trying to include or exclude these causes.
Of course you will also want to establish the severity of the respiratory distress and if this is severe whether there are any signs of impending respiratory failure.
Q Bearing in mind these possibillities, what further information would you seek?
Take a moment to think, and jot down on a piece of paper the things you would like to establish at this point.
