Leading article
Accessing common sense for clinical decisions
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Introduction |
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In November 2000, we published an article "Accessing electronic information for clinical decisions" (Arch Dis Child 2000;83:373-4) which began:
The setting: It's early on a Friday evening, and you're working as registrar in A&E. A 6 year old girl is rushed in as an emergency, complaining of headache; she is febrile with convincing nuchal rigidity. Your colleague performs a lumbar puncture, then you attempt to achieve intravenous access, and by the time the anaesthetic cream has cooked the microbiologist rings from the lab. The CSF contains 50 polymorphs, two red cells, and is "teeming with Gram positive diplococci".
The question: Before you give an antibiotic though, you wonder about the steroids in meningitis debate. Should this girl get dexamethasone prior to antibiotics? Will it reduce her chance of hearing lossor just increase her chance of continued infection? You reckon the five minutes it will take
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Arch. Dis. Child. 2001 85: 0.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
- Accessing electronic information for clinical decisions
- R S PHILLIPS
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or just increase her chance of continued
infection? You reckon the five minutes it will take 


