Approach to 🌡️ fever for in-patients

1️⃣st - Make sure patient is stable; rule out septic shock

2️⃣ Know the case ie the reason of admission eg underlying infection

3️⃣ Identify source of fever;

👉🏻 #ask ie do systemic review;
- chest : cough, new onset sob,
- UTI : increase in frequencyof urination, dysuria
- catheter related infection : pain, swelling & redness at site of insertion


👉🏻 #examine
- general : septic looking? dehydration?
- V/S : temperature pattern, BP, PR - is the tachycardia proportionate to the fever?
- catheter and branula site: signs of inflammation; redness, tenderness, swelling. Any cloudy urine in CBD
- auscultate for crepitations
- abdomen; any tenderness


4️⃣ #Investigation 🌡️

- if no obvious cause of fever - do septic #workup (FBC, CRP, blood culture) & optional chest x ray, sputum & urine C+S


5️⃣ #Management 💊

- symptomatic treatment; T. PCM 1g STAT & TDS, tepid sponging

- depends on cause of fever
Eg thrombophlebitis - change branula

- emperical intravenous #antibiotic depending on most probable cause of fever

‼️Cases in which fever is considered medical #emergencies (attend stat & discuss with MO!)

- neutropenic sepsis
- maternal pyrexia

#shortNotes