Unfortunately, diagnostic errors occur in pediatric practices more often than they should. A child may suffer serious injuries that can affect their life for years. For example, some children have been reported to develop permanent disability because of a diagnostic error.
Here is what to know about these errors among children:
Types of diagnostic errors that are common
The three types of diagnostic errors are:
- Delayed diagnosis: Sufficient information is available earlier to make a diagnosis, but it’s not made
- Wrong diagnosis: Another diagnosis is made before the correct one
- Missed diagnosis: No diagnosis is made at all
All of these diagnostic errors can be dangerous. The common causes of diagnostic errors among children include failure to take a complete medical history or perform a comprehensive physical examination, failure to follow up on abnormal lab results, misreading diagnostic images, insufficient experience in pediatric care, not spending adequate time with a patient and equipment/system failure.
A child suffering from any medical condition can experience a diagnostic error. However, most of the cases reported involve certain types of diseases. These include misdiagnosis of viral illnesses as bacterial infections and pneumonia as bronchiolitis, missed diagnosis of meningitis and other serious infections and delayed diagnosis of appendicitis, asthma, psychiatric disorders and medication side effects.
How diagnostic errors happen
A healthcare provider should spend adequate time with a child, obtain more information about their medical history and thoroughly assess their test results to make informed decisions. It’s also crucial for a pediatrist to stay in close communication with parents, following up on a child to identify alarming symptoms soon.
It can be very disheartening when a child is the victim of medical malpractice. If a healthcare professional offered your child substandard care, consider legal guidance to protect their rights.
