In this section
Pneumonia
Pneumothorax
ANZ guidance for assessment of possible vaccine-induced pericarditis/myocarditis in children and adolescents presenting to the ED
The majority of children presenting with chest pain as a primary complaint do not have a cardiac or other serious underlying disorder. The priorities of assessment are to firstly exclude these disorders or provide appropriate emergency treatment and to subsequently form a diagnosis and management plan for the remainder of cases. Common causes of paediatric chest pain in patients without risk factors for serious disease include:
The presence of certain risk factors increases the probability of potentially serious causes.
The most important step in initial assessment is identifying signs of cardiorespiratory distress:
For further specific assessment of underlying cause see chest pain flowchart below.
Key examination and basic investigation findings that may be identified in uncommon serious conditions are presented in the table below:
Download PDF