RECOGNITION AND MANAGEMENT OF PREGNANT ADOLESCENTS IN THE PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

The early initiation of comprehensive prenatal care is essential to av oid the complications associated with the more than one million adoles cent pregnancies in the United States each year. Pediatric emergency p hysicians can play an important role in the initial diagnosis and appr opriate referral of pregnant teenagers. However, previous studies have shown that the diagnosis of pregnancy can be difficult. The goals of this study were to characterize the spectrum of presenting complaints and to evaluate the assessment and disposition of pregnant teenagers p resenting to a pediatric emergecny department (PED). We retrospectivel y reviewed the medical records of 94 adolescents who presented with 95 pregnancies to our PED over an 18-month period. The mean age was 15.7 years (range 12 to 19 years). Only 8% mentioned pregnancy in their ch ief complaint at triage, and a concern about pregnancy was revealed by only 36% during the history of present illness. Ten percent denied th ey were sexually active. The most frequent complaints were gastrointes tinal (77%); other complaints were gynecologic, urinary, or nonspecifi c. A concurrent sexually transmitted disease (32%) or urinary tract in fection (31%) was frequently clinically suspected. At disposition, 26% were transported to an general emergency department for urgent obstet ric evaluation; others were referred to a primary caregiver (23%) or o bstetrician (39%). Pregnant teenagers present to the PED with a wide v ariety of complaints that may suggest other diagnoses. A high index of suspicion is required to diagnose pregnancy in adolescent girls so th at appropriate care and referral can be initiated.