Description
There has been a great demand for this handy book, first published in 2015 by paediatricians across the subregion. As a result, it became paramount that we produce the second edition. This edition has been expanded both in content and scope to reflect as much as possible common emergencies encountered at the children’s emergency room in the Tropics. The origin of this work was borne out of an urgent need to have a practical approach to managing emergencies presenting at our children’s emergency unit when I held the office as head of the department of paediatrics, Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki.
I noted that most paediatric patients presented as emergency cases and accounted for a significant proportion of morbidity and mortality. Attending physicians have a wealth of information acquired through years of training, and which they are doing their best to offer optimal care to the patients. Consequently, doctors draw their decisions for intervention from the content of vast volumes of literature exposed to them. Due to this diversity of knowledge and exposure, they often manage case scenarios in diverse ways. There was no standardized practice manual for these conditions coupled with the challenge of practising in a limited resource setting. We needed a practical approach manual adapted to our environment, within the limits of our resources that we can apply to each emergency to ensure uniformity and standardization of patient care. Contributors to this practical guide have been drawn from experts in the different subspecialties of paediatrics and have extensively researched each topic and presented a possible sensible approach.
This book is intended to offer a standard practical approach to paediatric emergencies in the subtropics, but it is not a book for detailed text on disease conditions and management.
The target audience is any health professional who desires a rapid answer to challenging clinical paediatric emergencies in the subtropic, including paediatricians, residents, house officers, nurses, and medical students.
The glossary of this book contains the commonly used drugs and their dosages. It also includes the CDC growth chart and the Nigerian growth chart. There is also a new addition of history taking and physical examination outline.
There has been a systematic revision of this second edition by the old authors and newly added authors. New and novel disease management such as COVID 19 in children have been added. I hope that this updated edition will add to the body of knowledge in addressing practical ways in managing emergencies among our children in the tropics and ultimately make a difference in the lives of children in Africa.
MARYANN UGOCHI IBEKWE