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Initial assessment of Chloe, her pain is 10/10

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Okay then Chloe. so you say you’ve got some pain in your tummy? Yes Whereabouts is this pain? So it’s all across the top, ok and how long have you had this pain for? A couple of weeks. A couple of weeks. And has it been constant for this whole time? Yes. Or does it come and go? Come and go. It comes and goes. Ok. So did you wake up with this pain this morning or? Yeah Did that wake you up? Yeah Her mum says that she gets it most mornings. Oh okay. Even when she gets home from school. Right, okay. Have you had any painkillers for this? Paracetamol. What time was that? 8 - 8.30 About 8 -8.30. Okay. Alright then.
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If you had to score this pain for me out of 10. If 0 is no pain and 10 is the worse pain you can ever imagine. How bad is this pain? 10 out of 10. It’s a 10 out of 10 pain. Okay, alright then. Right. You say that you a 14, aren’t you? Yeah
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Chloe, talk to her Okay. Is this pain sort of easing off a bit now or…? A little bit. A little bit. Okay, that’s good then. So we are going to do some checks on your tummy to see what else is going on. Have you had any vomiting with this pain? No. And have you had any diarrhoea? No? Okay then. Mum said that you were in hospital last week with this. Yeah. Was it really bad? Yeah. Oh okay. Is this the same pain, is it? Okay. And did anything come of that hospital trip? No, they just sent us away with paracetamol again. Okay, any advice or just to go back if it happens again. Mmmm. Okay, alright then.

Chloe says her pain is 10/10.

  • How do you differentiate and contextualise her pain?
  • Have you noticed any inconsistencies in the history taking?
  • Let’s have a discussion about what you think the red flag features of abdominal pain are.

Have a think about these questions and join the discussion below.

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Emergency and Urgent Care for Children: a Survival Guide

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