RT Book, Section A1 Sheridan, David C. A1 Meckler, Garth A2 Tintinalli, Judith E. A2 Stapczynski, J. Stephan A2 Ma, O. John A2 Yealy, Donald M. A2 Meckler, Garth D. A2 Cline, David M. SR Print(0) ID 1121510070 T1 Headache in Children T2 Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide, 8e YR 2016 FD 2016 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071794763 LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1121510070 RD 2024/11/08 AB Headache is pain in the scalp and cranium. Headaches in children can be mild, refractory, or life threatening, and can represent an acute, subacute, or chronic process. Sustained or recurrent headaches can greatly impact school performance and may even induce behavioral disturbances.1 Headache accounts for approximately 1% of all pediatric ED visits.2,3 Headaches increase in prevalence as a child ages; 30% to 60% of children through adolescence experience headaches.4,5 The most common causes of headache are viral and respiratory illnesses (28.5%),2,6 posttraumatic headache (20%), possible ventriculoperitoneal shunt malfunction (11.5%), and migraine (8.5%).3 Serious causes of headache are reported in 4% to 6.9% of children and include subdural hematoma, epidural hematoma, proven ventriculoperitoneal shunt malfunction, brain abscess, pseudotumor cerebri, and aseptic meningitis.2,3 Factors correlated with dangerous conditions include preschool age, recent onset of pain, occipital location, and the child's inability to describe the quality of the headache. Emergent neurosurgical conditions in children with headache are generally predicted by the presence of focal neurologic signs.7