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Prevalence of pneumonia in children under 12 years of age who undergo abdominal radiography in the emergency department

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2015

Valérie Homier ,
Colette Bellavance  and
Marianne Xhignesse
Valérie Homier*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Que.
Colette Bellavance
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Que. Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Que.
Marianne Xhignesse
Affiliation:
Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Que.
*
Royal Victoria Hospital, 687 Pine Ave, West, Room A4.62, Montréal QC H3A 1A1; valerie.homier@mail.mcgill.ca

Abstract

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Objective:

Pneumonia is a well-known cause of acute abdominal pain in children. However, the utility of chest radiography in this setting is controversial. We sought to determine the prevalence of pneumonia in children under 12 years of age who had abdominal pain and underwent abdominal radiography when visiting an emergency department (ED). We also aimed to describe the signs and symptoms of children diagnosed with pneumonia in this context.

Methods:

We conducted a retrospective analysis of electronic data from ED visits to a tertiary care centre by children 12 years of age and under who were seen between June 1, 2001, and June 30, 2003, and who underwent both an abdominal and a chest radiograph during the same visit, or an abdominal x-ray at a first visit as well as a chest x-ray in the 10 days following the initial visit.

Results:

Of 1584 visits studied, 30 cases of pneumonia were identified, for a prevalence of 1.89% (95% confidence interval 1.22%–1.56%). If chest radiography had been limited to children who presented with fever, cough and symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), the diagnosis of pneumonia would have been missed in only 2/1584 visits (0.13%).

Conclusion:

Children aged 12 years and under presenting to the ED with acute abdominal pain and in whom an abdominal radiograph is requested need only undergo a chest radiograph in the presence of cough, fever or other symptoms of a URTI.

Keywords

abdominal painchildrenemergencypneumoniachest x-ray
Type
Original Research • Recherche originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine , Volume 9 , Issue 5 , September 2007 , pp. 347 - 351
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians 2007

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