ABSTRACT
Head injury is defined as any trauma to the head other than superficial injuries to the face (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence 2010) and is the most common type of traumatic injury seen in children (Johnstone et al 1996). A skull fracture, meanwhile, describes a break in the cranial bones and is highly predictive of intracranial injuries (Schutzman and Greenes 2001). Emergency practitioners should understand the signs and symptoms indicative of skull fracture, therefore, and know when to refer children to neurosurgical colleagues. This article examines the literature on skull fractures and the available guidelines on the management of head injuries, and presents a relevant case study.
Subject(s)
Craniocerebral Trauma/diagnosis , Craniocerebral Trauma/nursing , Skull Fractures/diagnosis , Skull Fractures/nursing , Algorithms , Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Child , Craniocerebral Trauma/complications , Humans , Male , Neurologic Examination , Nursing Assessment , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Skull Fractures/complications , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , TriageABSTRACT
This article offers a guide to history taking and initial assessment of children with respiratory ailments, outlines the risk factors involved and describes referral procedures to children's services. It also presents two case studies of children who had been assessed in the author's emergency department and who required inpatient admission for different types of respiratory illness.
