Peer Reviewed
Feature Article Respiratory medicine
Investigating the child with dyspnoea
Recent articles on:
Breathing problems
Breathing problems
Recent articles on:
Child development
Child development
Abstract
Dyspnoea refers to the feeling of difficult or laboured breathing, which an older child may describe as being ‘short of breath’.
Key Points
- Age and clinical features influence investigation and diagnosis in the child with dyspnoea.
- The chest x-ray is the most common investigation in the child with dyspnoea.
- Other useful initial investigations, where appropriate, include a lateral airways x-ray, a barium swallow and meal, pulmonary function tests and laboratory testing.
- In complex presentations, more sophisticated imaging, endoscopy and polysomnography may be useful.
Purchase the PDF version of this article
Already a subscriber? Login here.