Pallor in children: diagnostic approach — viva

Opening

Examiner: How do you start? ^[1]

Candidate: I assess stability — appearance, work of breathing, perfusion and consciousness — before debating colour. I ask what changed from the child’s baseline and treat caregiver concern as data. I examine mucosae and palms in good light, knowing facial colour alone misleads across skin tones. ^{[2] [5]}