What Infectious Diseases are Important to Consider in Transplantation Patients?

Discussion Transplantation is not a common problem for primary care physicians but when a child’s disease has progressed to end-stage organ failure, transplantation can be the only treatment available. While the primary care provider usually is not involved in the daily management of patients before, during and after transplantation, they can be involved in many areas. These can include providing appropriate primary and acute care, ordering and obtaining necessary medical tests, medications and equipment, assisting with medical insurance, providing medical history and records to consultants, translating medical information for the family, general patient and family support, and encouraging and facilitating medical adherence. Pediatricians may have many questions regarding the primary care of a child with a transplant including: What affects the child’s growth?, How efficacious are vaccines after transplant?, What are the outcomes for children with additional problems such as intellectual disability?, and What are the rates of adherence to medical treatment? There are multiple factors that affect a child’s growth after transplantation including: Type of organ transplanted Patient age at transplant Transplant function Height/weight status pre-transplantation Pubertal stage Medications – particularly corticosteroids A 2017 systemic analysis of use of corticosteroids, found early withdrawal or avoidance protocols significantly improve final adult heigh...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news