Bouncebacks! Pediatrics

Bouncebacks! Pediatrics encompasses 28 cases of children who were seen in the emergency department, discharged, and then bounced back with a different diagnosis, sometimes reversible, sometimes life-ending.
In keeping with the Bouncebacks! tradition, all include the physician s actual documentation. Next is a discussion of the risk management/patient safety features of the initial encounter, either told by the book authors, chapter author, or in the colorful manner of Greg Henry, past president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and arguably the foremost physician medical-legal authority in the country, having been an expert in over 2,400 medical legal cases. After the condensed description of the return visit (or visits!), the chapter author provides a referenced discussion of the presentation and final diagnosis, all within the context of the case.
The chapters are written by authors who actually cared for these patients, creating a familiarity with the initial presentation and/or bounceback. Commentary often includes a very personal discussion of their initial discovery of the bounceback, and how an adverse outcome affected them personally; sometimes to the point of marital discord and consideration of suicide. What feelings should we have upon recognizing a child we cared for 24 hours ago is being rushed back to the trauma bay or learning that a parent we spoke with only hours ago will no longer be woken on Christmas morning by their 5 year old?
Chapter authors range from nationally renowned pediatric emergency medicine attendings and residents to general emergency medicine attendings and residents, both from academic centers and the community. Each of the following stories reflects the author s insight and experience with the care of their young. These are patients that any of us could see in any ED on any given day.
This is the third book of the series; in the first book, Bouncebacks! (2006), most of the cases were found by the book authors, then national experts were then asked to write commentary about the presenting complaint and final diagnosis, all within the context of the case. The second book, Bouncebacks: Medical and Legal (2011) was comprised of cases which went to trial or settlement. It was structured as one fictional day in the life of an emergency physician who reported to their shift; saw 10 well-appearing patients, only to subsequently find 10 letters that arrived in the mail! These cases were found through court records and appeals decisions; actual ED documentation and deposition and trial testimony was supplied by the attorneys who tried the cases. Each chapter is set up like an episode of the TV show Law and Order; first the medical, then the legal.