[Dysphagia] weight loss

[vstefans at george.ach.uams.edu (Vikki Stefans)]

I deleted the original post but wanted to comment on weight loss. With 
kids, of course you are needing to look at percentiles over time as well 
as just current BMI or percentile. If you ever find yourself just really 
not able to tell clinically from eyeballing either the patient or the 
growth chart whether they are thin but OK vs getting malnourished, see if 
someone would be willing ot order nutrition related labs to include CBC, 
albumin, pre-albumin, and zinc. Just my $.02. It is a common issue among 
our patients and can be very emotional if we are not 1) objective and 2)
non-judgemental about an undernutrition situation...e.g. acknowledge how 
hard they have been working to feed the person, the fact they might be 
able to maintain but not grow well or catch back up after illness, etc...

Vikki Stefans, M.D., pediatric physiatrist (rehab doc for kids) at UAMS
and Arkansas Children's Hospital.  Working Mom of Sarah T. and Michael C.,
and wife of Henry Stefans. Every mom is a working mom!- OK, dads too.