Paeds Cases · respiratory-sleep-and-airway
Explain a child's pneumonia and its home treatment to a worried parent — OSCE
OSCE communication and shared-planning station: explaining community-acquired pneumonia to an anxious parent, why oral antibiotics rather than admission or a drip are appropriate, why a chest X-ray is not needed, what to watch for at home, and when to return urgently.
On this page
Study tools
Target exams
Candidate instructions
You are the paediatric registrar. A 4-year-old boy with non-severe community-acquired pneumonia has been assessed: he is alert, feeding, saturating well and has only mildly increased work of breathing, and you have decided he can be treated at home with oral antibiotics. His father has ten minutes with you. He wants to understand, in plain language: (1) what pneumonia is; (2) why his son is going home on tablets rather than being admitted for a drip; (3) why there is no chest X-ray; and (4) exactly what to watch for and when to come back. Explain with empathy, check understanding, and agree a clear plan. [1]
References4ShowHide
- [1]Bradley JS, Byington CL, Shah SS, et al. The management of community-acquired pneumonia in infants and children older than 3 months of age: clinical practice guidelines by the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America Clin Infect Dis, 2011.PMID 21880587
- [2]Harris M, Clark J, Coote N, et al. British Thoracic Society guidelines for the management of community acquired pneumonia in children: update 2011 Thorax, 2011.PMID 21903691
- [3]Swingler GH, Hussey GD, Zwarenstein M. Randomised controlled trial of clinical outcome after chest radiograph in ambulatory acute lower-respiratory infection in children Lancet, 1998.PMID 9482294
- [4]Lodha R, Kabra SK, Pandey RM. Antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia in children Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2013.PMID 23733365