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Acute Gastroenteritis: Evidence-Based Management of Pediatric Patients

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Author: KeriAnne Brady, MD, FAAP

Peer Reviewers: Landon A. Jones, MD; Alexander Toledo, DO, PharmD, FAAEM, FAAP

Publication Date: February 1, 2018

CME Expiration Date: February 1, 2021

CME Credits: 4 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits^TM, 4 ACEP Category I Credits, 4 AAP Prescribed Credits, 4 AOA Category 2A or 2B Credits. Specialty CME credits also include 4 hours Infectious Disease credits.

PubMed ID: 29369591

For a pediatric patient who presents with acute gastroenteritis, the degree of dehydration can help guide the management and necessary interventions. In this issue, you will learn:

• What signs and symptoms indicate a case of acute gastroenteritis and which suggest a more serious illness
• How to use various dehydration scales to approximate a patient’s degree of dehydration
• When laboratory testing is indicated, and which tests are essential in cases of severe dehydration
• How to use antiemetics to increase the chance that oral rehydration will be successful
• Which solutions are best for oral rehydration of mild-to-moderately dehydrated patients and which are recommended for severely dehydrated patients
• Alternate methods for rehydration when intravenous access may be difficult
• Which strains of probiotics should be recommended for reduction of the duration of diarrhea
• Evidence-based recommendations for diet and fluid intake for patients who are discharged home

• Download PDF on Acute Gastroenteritis Management
• View Points and Pearls on Acute Gastroenteritis Management Digest 
• Take CME Test on Acute Gastroenteritis Management

Clinical Pathway

References

Evidence-based medicine requires a critical appraisal of the literature based upon study methodology and number of subjects. Not all references are equally robust. The findings of a large, prospective, randomized, and blinded trial should carry more weight than a case report. 119 refereces were used in preparation of this issue.