Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Evaluating Lymphadenopathy in the Pediatric Emergency Department: Case Series and Review of Literature

Abstract

Background: Children present to the pediatric emergency department (ED) with enlarged lymph nodes due to a broad spectrum of conditions ranging from benign causes like reactive lymph nodes to adverse conditions like malignancy. Identifying sonographic features typical of infection, inflammation, and neoplasms will help assist clinicians in deciding the disposition of the patients from the ED. Point-of-care ultrasound has become an essential adjunct for diagnostic assessment in pediatric emergency medicine. The wider accessibility of ultrasound along with greater resolution using high-frequency probes places this noninvasive, nonradiation-based bedside examination, an ideal tool for real-time examination of the lymph nodes in the EDs.

Case series: We present a series of cases in which the point-of-care ultrasound examination proved valuable in the timely diagnosis and expedited care of lymph node pathologies secondary to reactive, infectious, and malignant processes. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Point-of-care ultrasound will facilitate diagnosis in children with lymph node swelling and should be considered in children of all ages. While assessing the lymph node pathology at the bedside, describe the shape, size, internal echotexture, borders, vascularity, and the pattern of the perinodal soft tissue to differentiate between a normal, reactive, infectious, inflammatory, or malignant underlying pathology.

Keywords: children; infectious; lymph node; malignant; pediatric emergency; reactive; suppurative; ultrasound.