PINPOINT THE PAIN
Have you ever felt this pain and worried something serious was happening?
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1. Counselling Conundrum: a real question from a patient
2. Concise Conclusion: a straight-forward patient-friendly answer
3. Quick Wrap-up
Clearly, there are nuances that may not be captured in this format. The goal here is to provide you with helpful counselling tips which often draw from multiple sources or those which are not commonly accessed by busy healthcare providers serving the community.
Counselling Conundrum: “My 10-year-old got a sharp pain on the left side of his chest recently, even when he’s just sitting on the couch. It hurts when he breathes in, and then it’s gone in a minute. Is something wrong with his heart?”
Concise Conclusion: That sounds like precordial catch syndrome. It causes sharp pain that lasts seconds to a few minutes, and nobody knows why it happens. It may come back, but all it needs is reassurance. If he ever faints with exertion, has a racing heart, trouble breathing, fever, or chest pain while active, get him assessed.
Quick Wrap-up: The classic clues are pain a fingertip can cover (one interspace at the left sternal border or cardiac apex), sudden onset at rest or mild activity, and pain that worsens with inspiration. Treatment is reassurance and a heads-up that it may recur, with follow-up. In children and adolescents with a reassuring history and exam, further testing is generally not needed. Testing is warranted with abnormal physical findings or signs of pulmonary or cardiac disease, such as exertional fainting or chest pain, palpitations, dyspnea, fever.
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