Pediatric High-Risk Conditions

Abstract

Meningitis, appendicitis, and testicular torsion are among the most common conditions resulting in malpractice litigation in Pediatric Emergency Medicine. With meningitis, most litigation claims involved patients <2 years old. Notably, 25% of patients had no fever and many lacked classic signs of meningitis. For appendicitis, nearly 3/4 of litigated cases claimed delayed/missed diagnosis. A non-diagnostic ultrasound (eg, no appendix visualized) has a negative predictive value of only 86%. Finally, testicular torsion carries a 34-42% testicular loss rate and 10% of patients with torsion only present with isolated abdominal pain. Atypical presentations must be considered and clear return precautions are imperative.

Keywords: Appendicitis; Malpractice; Meningitis; Testicular torsion.