Pediatric chest pain is a relatively common presenting complaint, but identifying serious pathologies without overtesting patients with less-serious pathologies can be a challenge for emergency clinicians.
Our recent Pediatric Chest Pain: Using Evidence to Reduce Diagnostic Testing in the Emergency Department issue reviews the available literature to provide evidence-based recommendations to support a more standardized approach to the evaluation and management of pediatric patients with chest pain.
Test Your Knowledge
Did you get it right? Click here to find out!
Ready to learn more? Log in or subscribe now to check out our recent issue Pediatric Chest Pain: Using Evidence to Reduce Diagnostic Testing in the Emergency Department. Complete the 10-question quiz to earn 4 CME credits!
USACS subscribers can log in or renew here.
Here are a few key points:
- One of the largest ED studies of pediatric chest pain patients found the most common etiologies for non–cardiac chest pain included: musculoskeletal disorders/unspecified chest pain (56%), respiratory (12%), infectious (8%), gastrointestinal (6%), and sickle cell-related causes (4%). In this study, only 0.6% of the patients had cardiac-related chest pain.
- A cardiac cause should be considered in patients with red-flag findings. (See Table 1 in the issue.)
Read the full issue and earn 4 CME credits!
Last Updated on January 25, 2023
