Charting Pediatrics

Our medical community is committed to providing excellent patient care , and it's also our duty for that care to extend to our planet. Climate change is an increasingly important global health issue where children are the most vulnerable to adverse health outcomes. O ne major contributing factor to climate change in medicine is the use of nitrous oxide in spaces like the operating room and outpati...

  Over the last few decades, there have been many incredible medical advances in newborn care. At Children's Hospital Colorado, we're launching an exciting new initiative to take another step forward in care for our tiniest patients. For  newborns who need to be hospitalized, getting home as soon as possible is critical for their successful development. A commo n barrier for discharge that can kee...

Join us for another insightful season of Charting Pediatrics! The same hosts you know and love will continue to bring the latest and greatest information about pediatric medicine to your ears. Joined by renowned experts, we will explore prominent topics while being moved by their personal stories. This is a season you won't want to miss! For more information on Children's Colorado, visit:   childr...

We all know what it feels like to have a headache , but each person can experience that intensity for dozens of different reasons . Globally , headache disorders affect approximately 40% of the population , which is about 3.1 billion people. Headaches are also among the three most common neurological conditions for most age groups starting at age 5. As such a ubiquitous issue, it's important for p...

  For almost 50 years, Dr. Fritz Karrer has been wearing a  surgeon's cap , growing as a surgeon alongside the evolution of his specialty. For 40 of those 50 years , he's been at Children's Hospital Colorado, making an everlasting impact on kids and their families. On the brink of retirement, we look at his exemplary career and discuss how he's watch ed firsthand the progression of pediatric surge...

  More than 50% of rural counties in the United States do not have a pediatrician , and more than 80% of counties lack access to healthcare services that are simply needed to maintain the health of their population . The medical experts in those areas are lifelines to their communities. They are providing essential care, approaching resource and access challenges with creativity and innovation, an...

  Running  is an increasingly popular sport, with high school track and field programs seeing booming participation rates. With rising interest comes more cases of injury , however, incredible sports medicine advancements and programs are helping young runners manage and prevent injuries . To break down the most common running - related injuries in youth and discuss comprehensive approaches to pre...

For some, COVID-19 may seem like a thing of the past , but for medical professionals , the data regarding post-acute sequalae of COVID infection is only just emerging . Four years ago, the start of the pandemic left doctors puzzled by certain symptoms. Today , we are learning more about the long - term impacts of SARS-CoV-2 in children , oft en called long COVID or PASC. As the population continue...

Inflammatory bowel disease, otherwise known as IBD, is an illness pediatric providers need to consider when they see kids with abdominal pain, diarrhea or weight loss. IBD can present in a fairly straight forward way, or it can be incredibly challenging to diagnose. We've seen improvements in IBD diagnosis and care recently, including new screening tools and medications , as well as future treatme...

In simple terms, bioethics is the study of ethical, social and legal issues that arise in biomedicine and biomedical research. It provides guidelines for clinical decision - making and is vital to policy change. Despite standards s et by medical entities, significant gaps and variabilities exist within bioethics education for pediatric residents. Every resident will face ethical challenges in thei...

  Earlier this year , new guidelines were released to improve the diagnosis of pediatric sepsis and septic shock. For the first time, the novel Phoenix Sepsis Criteria provide s an objective and data - driven approach to aid in the identification of these life-threatening conditions, including prediction of mortality in children with suspected or confirmed infection. S epsis is one of the leading...

Newborn screening has expanded dramatically over the last decade as our detection methods improved and new treatments became available for rare diseases. One of those rare diseases is adrenoleukodystrophy, otherwise known as ALD. ALD is a n example of a rare disease where , thanks to expansions in newborn screenings, we are now able to make a precise genetic diagnosis very early in life and offer...

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform healthcare and disrupt the field of medicine in significant ways. We have already seen remarkable progress in areas such as diagnostics and data analysis, but what could broader use in patient care looks like ? A little over a year ago, the arrival of ChatGPT got everyone talking about AI — how realistic it is, how well it understands cer...

Over the last decade, we've watched childhood obesity emerge as a major health concern, taking over news stories and social media posts worldwide. The evaluation and treatment of children with obesity has evolved, and how we handle these diagnoses today is different than in years past. What ' s important to emphasize is that obesity is a chronic disease , and the medical community need s  to treat...

Hirschsprung disease. Anorectal and colorectal malformations. These are some of the most challenging surgical problems encountered in young children. The precision of surgical technique required to achieve optimal outcomes takes many years, if not decades, to develop. Colorectal surgery has become a subspecialty in pediatric surgery, requiring close collaboration with other specialists. At Childre...

Sleep problems can occur at any age, but when toddlers, children or young adults are the ones experiencing them, they can have a big impact on the entire family. Specifically, one to five percent of children , fr om newborns to teenagers, experience obstructive sleep apnea . While the e ffects may be significant, many children are not diagnosed or treated due to insufficient access to testing. A t...

Knowing something is wrong with your child is terrifying for any parent, but the mystery becomes more fr ight en ing when the symptoms even puzzle the experts. In 2018, at a peak in cases of acute flaccid myelitis , also known as AF M , otherwis e healthy kids experienced debilitating paralysis. Researchers of this perplexing illness braced for a surge in 2022 that never came, and now there is tal...

In just the United States , more than 15,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year. Globally, that number is greater than 300,000. As difficult as those numbers may be , there is good news : O ur cancer therapies continue to improve. In the 1960s, only about 5% of children survived leukemia. Today, that number is 90% or better. M any more pediatric oncology patients are now transitioning in...

  The mouth is a fundamental part of the human body. It allows us to eat, drink, breathe, speak,  smile and express ourselves. Naturally, that means oral health is connected to our broader physical health , but in the United States, medical and dental care are structurally separate. Despite their connections, the two have entirely different systems of professional training schools, insurance cover...

When you work in neonatology, you are surrounded by babies. You 're regularly meet ing new parents in the Neonatal Int ensive Care Unit , some who are living the best days of their lives , and others who are experiencing the very worst. But as a doctor, you never expect to become the patient . W e go beyond the white coat in this episode with a story of tragedy and personal discovery from Laurie S...

Innovations and techniques to enhance spinal surgical care , and support patient - centric outcomes , have made big strides in the last decade. Technology like surgical robots, 3D printed models customized to the patient , and a new procedure called vertebral body tethering are just a few examples of the many incredible advancements .   T wo leading experts on scoliosis surgery at Children's Hospi...

  When babies enter  the world, there 's a plethora of diagnoses providers need to look out for. Some are simple fixes, while others are a bit more complicated. When parents take their kids home, how should they know what to keep an eye out for? In this episode , we explore one potential diagnosis for an infant: tongue ties. How can you tell if a baby has one , and if they do, when should it be fi...

The care of children with cleft lip and palate spans an entire lifetime. It requires methodical care with a multidisciplinary team , and a special emphasis on the family. Integration with a child's pediatrician, medical home and their loved ones is key. While the oral cleft is the most common craniofacial malformation in a newborn, the three main types differ vastly.   We are in for a treat with t...

You've likely heard of CRISPR, the comprehensive gene editing technology that emerged in the 2010s and has since revolutionized biological research. Additionally, the medical community has long been using the concept of gene therapy. What's new is that both approaches have now successfully been harnessed for the treatment of human disease. In December 2023, the FDA approved two therapies for the t...

In its 7 th season, Charting Pediatrics has hit 2 million lifetime downloads! What an accomplishment. Our podcast team wants to thank each of you, our listeners, for tuning in each week to learn about the latest and greatest in pediatric healthcare . This accomplishment would not be possible with out each of you , and we are thrilled to have you on this journey . 2024 has a lot of unique opportuni...